Trishula
by CerberusTheHunter
Summary: A little bit of common sense, a little less rigid characters, a little bit of pulp, and a lot more awesome goes into the world of Evangelion. Things start off even worse, get even worse, but end up a little better. Well, better than getting tang'd anyway. Action, Adventure, Romance, Japanese Nationalism... wait, what? Dark and trigger warnings throughout.
1. Chapter 1

So this is my first work of fiction opened for the consumption of others. I know it won't be perfect and I welcome constructive criticism, so please read/review. Universal disclaimer applies (see profile). If you own any of the properties mentioned, hey I mean I will take it down but I would give an arm and a leg to talk with you, really, would be awesome.

While this is nominally an NGE story other properties will be crossing over, but listing them would give things away so I won't be doing so. There will be at least one anime, a book series, 1 American TV character, and a religious mythology. The title probably gives away the mythology, but by chapter 2 a troper could probably guess the book series. The anime will not come in for a while and given how dark this may come off as at first, it may surprise you.

I have a very detailed outline for this going forward with several segments already written, just not necessarily from start to finish. I hope this means, given interest, I can maintain a regular update schedule through what you might call the first season. That would be through the end of the canon series.

Edit: 11/3/14 So nobody pointed it out but I feel like an idiot. I described Misato going to the rear of her car to open the trunk. I had forgotten her vehicle of choice was rear engined.

Chapter 1

On September 13th, 2000, the course of human history was changed.

The event that became known as second impact melted the Antarctic ice fields in an instant, violently raising sea levels and contaminating the oceans with the debris of millions of human lives. Impact and the wars that followed were the single most destructive event in human history. Within the span of a year, over 6 billion had become 3 billion, and that was by generous estimates.

For developing nations this was a setback measured in decades, but for many of the industrial giants of the world it was as if a century had not passed. Lack of readily available clean water and food shortages do horrible things to people. In such a world, liberals did not last long.

Order was brought to chaos at the end of a gun. Military states backed by the United Nations now rule the mass of humanity. Strict rationing of resources and population controls keep humanity surviving, but not thriving. The population is kept placated with petty entertainments and warned from aspiration by threat of force.

On June 6th, 2001, Shinji Ikari has the misfortune of being born. Or so were his thoughts on the matter. He remembered only the briefest moments of a wonderful loving mother. He tried not to though, because it only reminded him of the many vivid memories of his cruel and frigid father. After Gendo Ikari left when he was 8 years old, Shinji thought he was saved. But then it became a pattern of hope, rejection, and neglect as he was moved from foster home to foster home. There were many orphans after impact and with the restrictions on having children, many families were eager to take them in. However the quantity of children also meant it was far too easy to become lost in the tide and there was little oversight of the homes in those days.

Shinji was small for his age, a product of poor nutrition and even worse living conditions. His white shirt and grey slacks hid the many scars covering his body, and below the skin he had broken more bones than he could remember. There had always been the best medical care, and everything healed straight, but those visits to the hospital were the highlight of his short, sad life. He really did not mind hospitals, they were always clean and the doctors and nurses were the only people he remembered, after his mother died, to genuinely care. For all the complaints about the food, Shinji enjoyed it because it was always there and nobody was beating him to take his.

He thought maybe he could be a doctor, or maybe even a nurse. He wanted to help people to feel the comfort he did. His teachers and guardians laughed at him and called him too stupid to be a doctor and said he must really like boys if he wanted to be a nurse. He did not get it until that other boy cornered him in the bathroom when he was 12. He had told Shinji he was so girly, cooking and sewing, he was going to treat him like a girl.

Shinji had read somewhere that the strong will do as they will, and the weak will suffer, as they must. Shinji Ikari understood very clearly that he was the weak, and to accept the actions of the strong was his place in life. In this way Shinji was the model citizen in the post impact world. No matter what those stronger than him would do, he would accept it and not push back or even entertain thoughts of rebellion.

On September 10th, 2014, he had received a note by courier, not in the mail. He had not received anything addressed to him before and had taken several minutes to examine the envelope. He saw it was from:

Ikari Gendo, Commander

NERV Japan HQ

Tokyo-3, Hakone

Opening the envelope he found a single piece of folded paper, an instant photo, and a train ticket. On the paper was printed a single word:

Come.

The train ticket was dated for 3 days thus, on the 13th. The photo made Shinji blush and drop the entire package. He quickly gathered it back up and took it to show his guardians. Well except the picture. They would probably find some way to blame him for that.

Back on the train, Shinji took the ear buds from his head as he felt the brakes engage and the train began to slow. He was not sure if he had spent the entire trip alone, having let his mind wander, but there had been nobody else on the train when he got on and there was nobody he could see now.

Several minutes later, Shinji stood on the platform as the train pulled away. He had with him all his worldly possessions, consisting of 5 sets of clothing plus the white shirt and black slacks he wore, toiletries, 1 pair of white tennis shoes, a small collection of school supplies and notebooks, and his SDAT player. In his hand he holds the picture that came along with the letter and his ticket. The woman in it was gorgeous, Shinji wondered if she was a model or an actress, or something. Knowing his father he would not be surprised if this was either a cruel joke or trying to get compliance through baser instincts.

Shinji Ikari hears a car approaching. To Shinji, cars are cars. Some are big, some are small, some are quiet and some are loud. This one nearing the station is loud, small, and blue.

To a connoisseur of the tawdry diversions in life like Misato Katsuragi, this was not merely a car. This was a 1984 Renault Alpine. Surely the finest thing to come out of France since some off wine gave the world champagne; this was the rare GT package, in which the already impressive V6 was bored out for a few hundred extra cubic centimeters. The entire series was hand built piece by piece. It was neither the fastest car made at the time, nor the most powerful of vehicles to survive second impact, but that was not what mattered. Like all things French, being the best at a thing was not the point. It was perfectly French in that it was the perfection of an ideal in the here and now. It was the experience that mattered. Like a night out when one spends far too much money (preferably someone else's), consumes far too much food and drink, and stumbles into bed (again, preferably someone else's) shortly before the sun rises, the end result was abysmal, but the experience leading up to it was what mattered.

The blue sports car pulled to a stop as Shinji stepped off the final stair leading from the station platform to the sidewalk. The engine shuts down, the far driver door opens, and out steps the woman in the picture. She is wearing a high necked black dress under a red jacket and a matching beret. Shinji notices she is wearing leather driving gloves as she pulls off her oversized sunglasses, only because he has never seen anybody wear gloves to drive before.

"Well hello there handsome." She says

Shinji Ikari's first reaction is to look around to see to whom she is speaking to before dumbly pointing at himself and asking:

"uh, me?"

She giggles and folds her sunglasses, hanging them in the collar of her dress.

"You must be Shinji Ikari, I'm Captain Misato Katsuragi of NERV, but you can all me Misato. Is that all you brought?" Shinji nods, his mouth still kind of dangling open in shock at this woman is even speaking to him. As she steps around the front car, Shinji mind is drawn away from her long legs and the sound her heels make as they touch the ground by the fact that she is using a metal key to open hood. As she opened it he realized the trunk was up front in this car. The car looked so new, he thought, why didn't it have a remote?

"Your file said you played the cello, did you opt to have it shipped instead of hauling it on the train?"

"N-no Ma'am, I actually stopped playing a couple years ago. I had to start working and between that and everything else, I just didn't… you know… time and all that.." he said, trailing off as he stepped towards the rear of the car to put his things in the trunk.

"Please Shinji, call me Misato." She said as she took his two small bags and set them in the crowded boot before closing the hatch. Shinji only caught a glimpse of the other contents but besides all the trash and plastic bottles he swore he saw a gun too. The big two handed ones like the police carry. "Wait, couple of years… you had to start working when your were 12? I thought you were with a foster family, did they make you work?"

"Y-yeah, just to help cover taking care of me, y'know? It wasn't anything hard, that family had a restaurant and I would help take orders or clean up. I even got to learn how to cook so it wasn't so bad." Shinji stepped around to the passenger door, which Misato had to reach over from the inside to unlock.

"Oh you cook? " She says as she starts the car and immediately turns down the blaring stereo.

"Yeah, just a little of this and that, its nothing special." He replies as she shifts the car into gear and rolls out of the empty station lot. Several minutes of silence followed, during which Captain Katsuragi considers a 12 year old working to support a family that received a NERV stipend bigger than her salary to house him.

"So Shinji…" The captain said, trying to break this silence that was barreling towards becoming awkward. "… Are you excited to see what your father does at NERV?"

Shinji jolts a little when she speaks, his mind having wandered again.

"Um, I guess. NERV is like a science organization of the UN, right?"

"Not really, no. I can make sure you get the big presentation when we get there, but in short…" Leaving the surface streets and joining the motorway, Misato accelerates, pressing a surprised Shinji into his seat.

"NERV operates as an independent organization, nominally under the UN, but really they just pay our bills. It holds several patents for technology created after second impact, but NERV was truly created for one purpose…" Misato pauses as she drops the clutch pedal and shifts up, Shinji's heartbeat rising with the sound of the engine.

"…To defend humanity from the threat of the angels… Pretty cool right?" Misato turned to look at the boy. His face seemed more confused than impressed.

"The what?"

"You don't know about the angels?" She screams before turning back to the road and swerving around a piece of debris that just fell to the road.

"What was that?! I don't know, I don't watch TV or anything!"

"Yeah well you are about to get a really good look at one!"

As they round a bend, some_thing_ comes into view. It dwarfs the hills that surround this part of the country. The vibration of the engine had masked the noise and tremors but Shinji could now feel the earth shake with each step of the giant. The car shook on its suspension as VTOLS zoomed overhead at low altitude and loose their weapons at the beast. Dozens of missiles slam into the beast followed by their warheads detonating in a flash of light and thunder of noise.

Shinji feels the shockwaves hit the car and echo through his bones. Even at this distance the world goes silent as his ears are overwhelmed. He hopes that it is over now, hope that it is short lived as the dust settles and the green giant is stands unfazed and it looks like even unmarked. The thing is vaguely human shaped with long gangly limbs and bony plates on its shoulders. Instead of a head or any kind of face, a great bone colored mask of a placid human face with closed eyes adorns its chest. Below the mask, a great red jewel was held in bony claws.

As his hearing returns, he can hear the captain's phone ringing. She takes it from her jacket and flips it open to answer. For some reason, in all the chaos, Shinji notices it is a fairly advanced model, only about the size of a back of cigarettes. It is black with the NERV logo printed across both sides in red.

"THEY'RE GOING TO WHAT?! Shit!" Misato slams on the breaks, jerking Shinji forward in his seat. A moment later she is dragging him out of the car and into a roadside ditch. Before he can ask what is going on, light and thunder again consume the world.

Shinji thought he had lost consciousness until he realized he was actually still under Misato. More specifically, he slowly came to the conclusion that his face was under her chest. Her ample, heaving, chest he observed. It was at this point that Shinji Ikari did in fact pass out.

Shinji did not know how much time had passed when a very dirty Misato Katsuragi shook him awake. Before his vision had settled he was hauled to his feet and led back across the road to what he supposed was the captain's car, though it no longer quite resembled what it had been. He slumped down against the passenger door as she failed to start the mangled car and opens the hood to see what might be done.

"Wha-what was that?"

"The Strategic Self-Defense Force set off an N2 mine. YES!" Misato exclaims, pumping her fist in the air as the engine finally turns over.

"So that means it is over, right?" Shinji shakily rose as he spoke, leaning on the crumpled skin of the car for support. Misato looks at him in reply and points to the horizon in the direction of the blast. Shinji turns and sees the beast still there, in one piece, kneeling beneath a dome of yellow light.

"No, Shinji…" Misato opens her door and gets in, Shinji following. Though hidden beneath her sunglasses, Misato's expression matches Shinji: the look of weariness when all fear has been exhausted in an instant. Misato knows that at this moment there is nothing she can possibly due to stop the angel from killing her if it so chose. So she concentrates on the task at hand, transporting the boy.

Shinji just has no context to even put this in. The fear he felt in the last few minutes feels like more emotion than he has ever felt before in his life. He has no energy for further reaction right now; he hadn't time to process it yet.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

His name was Shinji Ikari, and he was afraid.

This was not an unusual state for Shinji, given his status as a perpetual target for those seeking to harm others. What was unusual was the cause of his fear at the moment. The more pressing of two, as they were both quite pressing, was rate of speed and violent vibration of the heavily damaged car in which he sat. The second, only slightly less urgent, was the giant green monster on the horizon recovering from an N2 mine at close range like it was a punch in the gut. Sure it looks like it hurt, but the thing was getting back up.

As captain Katsuragi pulled the car into the garage, Shinji felt a moment of relief. They had stopped, he could stop worrying about the car falling apart. Then the elevator started moving with a jolt and he felt his stomach jump.

"I t-think…"

"What's that Shinji-kun?"

"I think I'm going to be sick."

Misato's eyes went wide with panic and she began shoving the boy towards the door.

"Shit! Don't do it in here!"

She breathed a sigh of relief when Shinji was able to open the door and fall out of the car before vomiting. Several minutes later, once he had recovered, he started looking around and realized: 1) he was in a giant elevator, 2) it was going very fast downward and had been for a while now, and 3) it was getting quite cold.

"Um, Captain.."

"I told you Shinji-kun, call me Misato"

"Uh, right sorry. Misato-san, where are we going?"

"To NERV HQ, its underground. "

"Oh, okay…"

Eventually the big freight elevator stops and they move to a merely human size one and descend further. Shinji can see the floor numbers moving past on this one and is amazed how deep they must be. This paled in comparison to his first sight of the Geofront. Misato introduced Shinji to a doctor along the way, but she was not nice like the doctor's Shinji remembered, so he tuned out from their conversation, looking out at the wooded geofront from the glass sided elevator cabin.

Endless hallways eventually take them out onto a lit catwalk with darkness all around. When overhead lights come on with an audible thump, It takes several seconds before Shinji can see well enough to scream, jump back, and nearly fall over the railing, frightened by the _gigantic purple head with gigantic eyes staring into his soul!_

"W-what is that?!" He gets out between shallow breaths.

"Weren't you listening? It is an evangelion, the only weapon we have against the angels." The blond doctor says. Shinji was pretty sure she said her name was Akama… Adama… Akatski, something like that.

"Evangeline?"

"Evangelion, e-vang-gal-e-on"

"Evangelion… so it's a giant robot?"

"No it's a… no, you know what, no, you wouldn't listen to half of it and you wouldn't understand the other. It's a giant robot for killing angels." Ritsuko Akagi threw up her hands in defeat. There was an angel attacking and she did not have the patience for dealing with a 14 year old dullard.

"And you are here to pilot it." The interior of a room above the robot that Shinji had not seen before lit up. It was too far away to make out a face, but he recognized the voice. Cold, flat, and impatient. 6 years had passed and he still sounded like he was irritated from the last time he had to scold the boy.

"Father…"

Shinji looks towards the hanging room, his face screwed up in a scowl and his hands balled into fists so tight he could feel the pain from his fingernails cutting into his palms. This wasn't fair, why did he come back into his life now, why did he think he could order him around when he had been gone so long.

The answer was of course quite simple for Gendo Ikari. Gendo knew he could order his son around because he would obey. He raised the boy and saw to his care such that obedience would his only reaction to even mild coercion. He may whine and fight about it, but he will do as told in short order. The program was even marked for nation wide implementation among the proles with the success Gendo had with his son.

"What, but I just got here, I don't know how, an N2 bomb barely hurt what am I supposed to do?" Shinji shouts at his father, his rising in tempo as he panics.

"Stop whining and do as your told boy!" The imperious man shouts back.

"NO!" Shinji's reply silences even the chatter of the various communication officers interfacing with the JSSDF behind Gendo. One did not refuse Gendo Ikari.

"So you refuse, even though it will mean he death of all mankind? Typical stupid selfish child, unable to get past your own base emotions to think of others for one second."

"The death of- what are you talking about, I didn't know, I-…" Shinji says as he sinks to the catwalk floor, hands grasping his head.

"Silence! You will be tried and executed for treason for your refusal. Bring in Rei!" Gendo bellowed, not even trying to hide the smile on his face.

"But Commander, Rei is still in critical condition."

"Lieutenant Ibuki, carry out your orders or join the child before the firing squad!"

"Y-yes Sir!" The lieutants voice rises sharply when she responds, then turns back to her console to give the order.

Gendo Ikari had considered purchasing a pet for Shinji when he was young, both to teach a level of responsibility and to give an additional point of leverage over the child. Mostly to be able to snuff it out and tell the boy it was his fault for not being good enough. He was sure it would have felt something like this.

The doors to Shinji's left opened and several persons in scrubs wheeled in a gurney upon which lay a body. Shinji rose to look and saw the body was pale, blue-haired girl, covered by bandages and the remains of something white.

"Now Shinji, because you cannot look past your own petty desires for a moment, this child will fight, and likely die, in your place. You disgusting excuse for a man to let it happen rather than put yourself in harms way!" Beneath the bellowing scowl, it was actually quite difficult for Gendo to not laugh. He thinks it is in fact quite admirable that he is holding it together. He counts off Shinji's actions in his head.

_First the defiant look, then tears, then the…_

Shinji looks at the girl, paralyzed. It was his fault she was going to die, that everyone was going to die. Why did they put him in this situation, he shouldn't have to go through this, he was only 14. He…

The entire room shaking, the boom and crack of the angel's attack audible even down here, simultaneously interrupts Gendo and Shinji's inner monologues. Already looking up, Shinji sees the falling piece of ceiling and fixture and, without thinking, dives towards the gurney to shield the girl with his body. He expects that he will be crushed but perhaps she will live.

When death does not arrive as expected, Shinji looks up and sees the enormous purple hand shielding him. When he looks back down he sees that, contrary to anything he, or anybody else, thought him capable of, he is holding the limp girl in arms. Her one red eye is looking at him and for some reason he does not think of the strangeness of the color, but rather begins to freak out over the fact a girl is looking at him like that. A quite pretty girl in fact… who will die if he doesn't _get in the giant robot._

"I'll do it! I'll be the pilot!"


	3. Chapter 3

So my plan had been to put this out on a weekly basis but obviously it has been more like as I finish stuff. I said before I had a lot of this story written out in advance, just not necessarily in order. What I have completed does not start until after the 4th angel so I am just trying to get the beginning done and get to what I think of as the fun stuff. The 'more awesome' part does not come in until that point and writing mostly dark stuff is exhausting.

I really appreciate reviews and am looking for beta readers if anybody is interested. I know I have a weird/bad style and need help.

Oh and if anybody thinks they have a guess about where something is going, PM me about it. If you are right, and I think it was not too obvious at that point, I will give you spoilers.

Chapter 3

It had been a strange day for Shinji Ikari. Given the events of the past several minutes, it was shaping up to be a fairly strange evening too.

Giant monsters he had gotten past. More pretty women talking to him than had previously in his entire life, somewhat pleasant. Meeting his father for the first time in 6 years and picking up right where they left off, unwelcome but not unexpected really as he had ordered him to come. The hairclips tugging at his scalp that _are crooked dammit_! Shinji had gotten over these things for the most part. His thoughts were mostly concerning that they had just put him in the giant robot _and oh no it's a trap they are going to drown me!_

"Stop screaming Shinji, this is LCL. It is a highly oxygenated fluid, so you can breath it. It is required for the nerve interface with the Eva." Ritsuko Akagi was quite frustrated with the young man in the entry plug of unit 01 and was rubbing the bridge of her nose as she spoke. She muted the audio when the screaming did not stop. He will get it eventually, not like there is an alternative she thought.

Several minutes later, after Shinji had begun to breath the strange fluid and communication had been reestablished, the fluid went clear and Shinji could see the outside world again, or at least the room the robot was kept in.

"Start-up complete, synchronization established at 40%." The voice was female, Shinji thought it could have been the one who questioned father earlier.

"Shinji, this is Misato, I will be your commander during this operation. We are preparing for launch now. The angel has entered the city and is currently in the downtown district. You will be raised to ground level nearby. Because the buildings are tall in this area, and most of the streets narrow, the angel will not have anywhere to evade or escape. Just go right for it."

"Okay, so I just think about it and the robot does it, right?"

"The Eva, Shinji, Eva." Dr. Akagi's irritation was quite evident in her voice and made Shinji cringe. It reminded him of father. Not nice doctor was really not nice.

"Quiet, you're upsetting him! Yes, Shinji, the Eva will respond to your thoughts."

"So, do I get a gun or something" When there was not a response he worriedly continued. "A sword? A club?... Sharp pointy stick maybe?"

"There was not time to prepare any weapons Shinji, so it is hand to hand this time. We will guide you from here. Just try and hit it really hard till something breaks!"

"WHAT KIND OF INSTRUCTIONS ARE THOOOOOOOooooooooooo-"

"Was that really necessary lieutenant? You could have warned him and the fade out audio was unnecessary and unprofessional."

"Grrrr, Misato, PLEASE focus on the matter at hand!" Dr. Akagi was quickly burning through the first cigarette of a pack she figured would be gone before this was over.

Meanwhile, Shinji Ikari was experiencing first-hand the magic of the electric railway. Just as he had become acclimated to the additional gravity, his stomach was shot right back up by the sudden stop. Looking up after nearly vomiting he sees the angel's hand a moment before it grabs the Eva by the skull and lifts it off the ground.

Shinji could not even make the evangelion react as the green giant took hold of 01's left arm. Shinji felt the pressure and the wave of pain as it began to pull and squeeze. He felt the dislocation of one arm and the shattering of the other before the whole eva was thrown into a building by the searing lance through the eye. Shinji felt it all. After the first arm was damaged, his father ordered the audio and video from the cockpit cut.

"Commander, Synchronization has steadily risen, but the pilot has not made the eva move yet!"

The angel approached to finish off the bleeding monster when it finally awoke. Its head snapping up, 01's remaining eye lights up. The angel raises its hand to finish the _thing_ off.

**Shinji Ikari, why do you not fight?**

_I don't know how._

**You need not know, for the being that is your chariot knows.**

_I don't want to fight, I don't want to kill anybody!_

**Why?**

_Because killing is wrong, violence is wrong!_

**That which stands before you is wrong. **

_All life matters, if I could just talk to it maybe it would stop!_

**It has a single goal: the elimination of all life on this planet. It is a thing that should not be, its every living moment is suffering. It is a creation of that which perverts the universe. To kill it is to end much suffering.**

_I am afraid._

**You do not fight alone. You fight with the greatest weapon of man, invincible if you only you so will it. Does any thing in all creation prevent you from willing it in this moment? All you need do is think and it will be.**

_No._

**Then… Shinji Ikari, fight the battle!**

The Evangelion roars in challenge and charges. In flashes of rainbow light the eva's arms heal and it swats the angel's arm aside, sending the pink beam through buildings and into a hillside.

"All data from unit 01 has been corrupted, none of it is making sense! Energy use, pilot data, synchro graph, entry plug feed, none of it is coming through!"

Each time the green giant raises its hands to fend off the eva, unit 01 pushes forward and strikes. 1 minute and many failed attacks later, the angel's peaceful mask is cracked like spiders web and its core has begun to dim. It slashes its claw like fingers down at the eva with its left arm. The evangelion catches the strike by the wrist and braces its other hand against the beast shoulder. With a roar it bites down at the elbow joint and begins to maul the angel. Several seconds of ripping and tearing and the arm is severed, leaving ragged flesh on the stump.

**_Thou art an enemy of the rightness of the universe. You pervert the dharma by your very presence._**

The eva lands a vicious elbow strike on the already off balance giant, sending it to the ground. It stands over the fallen angel, still holding the severed arm, and plants its left foot on its torso, just to the side of the core. Unit 01 rips the bone lance from the arm like a warrior unsheathing a sword. Grasping it with both hands, it drives the sharpened bone into the core.

**_I am created…_**

As the core is breached, fire and light engulf the monster and the machine and all around.

"Blue pattern has disappeared, the angel has been defeated! Unit 01 has shut down but data feeds have resumed. The pilot is unconscious but appears to be in good condition." Lt. Ibuki announced. She felt like she had been holding her breath since the evangelion began to move. Misato Katsuragi sighed in relief.

"Oh thank God, begin dispatching recovery teams immediately."


	4. Chapter 4

So this is coming along faster than I thought it would, I guess that is the result of having over 100 pages of content, outline, and background written before starting. Thank you very much seeking professional help for my first constructive review. Please keep them coming, I need the help. Also heads up now, this will not be matching up with the show's timeline, vague as it was. I have my reasons.

Only possible warning for this chapter, it touches on Shinji's poor experiences in the foster system. As we delve further into that I will do my best to have warnings at the top of any chapters to which they are applicable.

Chapter 4

Shinji Ikari was staring at a hospital ceiling. He knew it was a hospital ceiling right away because he has seen a few hospital ceilings in his time. The extra bits extending from the suspended tiles and the wall near his head give it away.

He knew what each one did because, having had aspirations of being a doctor, he had asked about them during his many visits. He knew which ones were for suction, which was for gas, which ones were for obsolete systems, etc. There were no obsolete ports here so this hospital, or at least this room, must be pretty new he thought. There was a monitor taped around his finger and an IV from a clear bag. Probably just fluids to keep me hydrated, he thought. He realized that despite the monitor on his finger, and the machine it was attached to at his side, there was no noise.

He lay there for a long while, until the position of the sun began to put the light in his eyes. He did not know how long, because there was no clock. He found the bed controls and raised himself up. He was at that curious intersect of exhaustion and having slept too long to be able to resume. He found his body to be sore and protesting every moment.

A little while later Shinji felt hungry and found the call button. The nurse who came was very nice and told him dinner would be soon. As she left, Shinji thought it was weird that the hospital was so new, but she wore such a dated uniform. Instead of scrubs, she wore a white skirt and blouse. Regardless, she brought him a tray of food and helped him arrange his pillows to sit up, then checked the monitor, which was apparently on silent, and removed the fluid bag now that he was taking food and drink.

"E-excuse me Ma'am, but how long have I been here? The last I remember it was night and the sun is going down again, did I sleep through the day?" He asked. The kindly nurse, she really had no interesting features to Shinji but her uniform, smiled.

"Young man, you slept a bit more than that. You were admitted here 3 days ago."

"Oh wow, no wonder I couldn't sleep anymore." Shinji gave an authentic sounding laugh, smiling and closing his eyes to add to the image. "Um, this is going to sound silly, but where am I? Waking up here, I am not sure what I remember was real or a dream."

"Oh it is not silly, you have been unconscious since you arrived. I can tell you that if you remember the city being attacked it was not a dream. This is NERV Tokyo-3 medical treatment and research center, but everyone just calls it NERV medical." She smiled back at the boy. "And no need to put a face with me. No, you did not make a mistake, and I hope this peaks your interest enough to remember me now."

Shinji froze and stared at the smiling nurse. Brown eyes, brown hair in a bun, no jewelry, no make up, no freckles, one pinpoint mark on her forehead, it looked like a sunspot.

"I uh, I… M-may I have your name?"

"If you answer a question for me: Are you acting again or are you really nervous?" She asked.

"Ma'am, if you are truly reading my mind, then I am truly nervous." Shinji replied.

"Say I was reading your mind, how would I be doing that?"

"I dunno, but I don't know all that much, I'm not even in high school yet. Just because I don't understand something, it doesn't mean a thing does not happen or doesn't exist."

"And that, young man…" She says then gently pokes him on the forehead with her index finger. "Is the first step on the path to wisdom. There is always more to know. May you be blessed to see what others do not."

She smiled and told him her name. He thought it was strange and did not sound Japanese at all. Then again she only kind of looked Japanese, but he found he did not remember what she looked like at all once she walked out the door. She was really nice though, if a bit strange, and her name was pretty. Shinji slept really well that night.

When he awoke in the morning Captain Katsuragi and that blond doctor were there.

"Good morning Shinji, how do you feel?" The captain said. Before Shinji could respond, the blond doctor was holding up the loose end of the tube attached to the IV bag hanging beside.

"Did you unplug this?" She said accusingly, the tube held inches from his face and her own face not much further.

"Rits, he just woke up, chill out."

"I didn't unplug it, the nurse last night did. She brought me dinner and said I didn't need it anymore since I was eating." Shinji said.

"See Rits, it was the nurse." Misato followed. Poor kid just woke up and didn't need her accusing him of something.

"Look young man, I don't care who your father is, DO NOT lie to me. You didn't wake up yesterday; there is no record of it or you being brought food. So when did you unplug it?"

"Shinji! Come on, tell the truth." Misato had her hands on her hips, annoyed.

"Honest, that's what I remember! Maybe I was dreaming and just rolled over and it pulled out or something."

Ritsuko Akagi relented after staring the boy down for a few more seconds. Even if it produced suitable pilots, if it made compulsive liars the program was more trouble than it was worth.

"Well you are ready to leave so no point in putting it back on. Give me your hand." Dr. Akagi sits down on the bed by Shinji's leg and removes the monitor then the IV, using a cotton ball to stopper the bleeding then attaching a band aid to his wrist where the needle had been. After collecting the print out she turns and leave.

"His things are in the bag by his bed." She says before slamming the door shut behind her.

"For a doctor, she isn't very nice." Shinji says after several moments of silence.

Misato looks over her shoulder to make sure the door has stayed shut before responding.

"She really isn't. She used to be nicer."

"Have you known her a long time, Misato-san?"

"We met in college, so you could say that. Would you like me to leave so you can change? You are going to have to wear your dirty clothes, I'm sorry I didn't bring your things."

"Oh its okay Misato-san, if you could leave for a couple minutes though."

"Afraid my virgin eyes may be offended?" Misato snarked.

"P-please Misato-san, I guess I am just shy."

"Its okay Shinji, just giving you a hard time. Call me when you are done." She says then steps out.

Shinji got off the bed with a groan, his body still sore all over, and opened the bag that lay against the frame. He sorted the contents and after putting on his underwear and shirt he picked up his pants and felt something inside. He reached in the back pocket and found a black wallet made out of cloth. Which was nice and all but he was fairly sure he had never seen it before. He opened it (growing up under certain conditions you to check for cash first) and found his minor's ID, which he normally kept in his pocket, and a bank card, which he knew he had never seen before. On the card was a figure that Shinji did not recognize in gold, though it kind of looked like the number 30 with a moon over it in calligraphy on a black background and printed across the top was:

LOCK'S Metro International

Banking Above It All

Below this, printed in raised letters was:

Ikari Shinji

Member since 2014

Having never possessed such a thing before, it did not strike Shinji as odd that there was no card number nor an expiration date.

Shinji shrugged and put the wallet in his back pocket after he got put his pants on. If he were to rank all the weird things he had seen since coming here from weirdest to least weird, he mused silently, a new bankcard would make a quite poor showing.

"Misato-san, I'm ready!" He calls out after putting on his shoes. She comes back, sliding her phone into her jacket pocket.

"Ready to go home, Shinji-kun?"

"Home? Like with my foster parents?"

"Oh no, your new home here!"

"It's not with father is it? Please tell me its not with Father!"

"No no no, Shinji, calm down. Your father is really busy and I guess you two don't really get along. I um, well after meeting you I didn't think sending you to live alone was the best idea so um…"

"Misato-san?"

"So I volunteered to have you live with me and I have been appointed your guardian!"

"Oh…" Shinji visibly sulked. "So you are my new foster mom… I'm sorry."

"For what Shinji, you haven't done anything?" Misato said, taking a step closer to the boy. He looked like he was going to cry.

"In the past 6 years I have lived with 7 different families. The first 6 all asked that I be removed and the 7th, the one with the restaurant, remember? I worked for 80 hours a week, barely attended school, and they were still ready to throw me out for being lazy." Shinji said and Misato took another step towards him, then lifted his hands in hers. He twitched and nearly pulled his hands away, but her firm grip was comforting.

"Shinji, I don't know about that, but even if I am going to ask you to pilot Eva, I will do my best to give you a happy home, okay? You'll have chores and they are requiring that I take responsibility for your performance in school, but I won't make you work and with NERV security you will be safe." She said.

"Okay…" He replied, still looking at the floor, his hands limp in hers.

"Hey Shinji." She says, in her best perky voice, and he looks up.

"Lets go home." She said, looking down at him with a warm smile. It reminded him of his brief memories of his mother and that made him happy. He smiled back.

"Okay."

End

Heading off any speculation on that cliche, no Shinji is not playing up an act and secretly awesome ala Thousand Shinji. That was awesome in that story but I am not going to steal it. Just like many people in reality, what he shows and what is in his mind are different. Answers will come later.

Edit: 11/3/14 very end, small detail, Shinji reacts to Misato touching his hands.


	5. Chapter 5

The reviews have been great and they are great motivation. I am glad people are enjoying this story as much as I am enjoying writing it.

Oh, hybrid car fans, I apologize now. This is Misato's character to me, not hating.

Warnings for this chapter: slight racism (weren't expecting that were ya?) and at the end when Shinji goes to bed abuse victims may recognize his behavior.

Chapter 5

As they rode the elevator down to the parking levels, something occurred to Shinji.

"Um, Misato-san?"

"Yes Shinji-kun?

"Was your car fixed or… ?"

Captain Katsuragi slumped her shoulders and groaned.

"Yeeeeeeeeah, Its was an '84 and they were all hand built, sooooo the repair bill would have been astronomical. NERV is gonna cut me a check but for now they gave me a loaner from the motor pool." Misato said, all joy leaving her voice at the mention of the loaner.

"You don't sound happy. You must have really loved that car."

"Oh it was a pain in the ass, it was French after all. They will give me enough to find something nice, just for now…" Misato doesn't finish as the elevator doors open and the object of her unhappiness is revealed.

3 years before second impact, the Toyota motor car company began producing a hybrid small sedan which used an electric motor to supplement the small gas engine and reduce fuel use. As fuel become more expensive, most of it being reserved for government and military use, these cars were produced with fully electric drive trains. Being small, cheap, and able to run off the ample electricity produced by the geofront's fusion plants, and with the additional advantage of producing no fumes to be ventilated from underground, NERV had purchased these vehicles en mass for its fleet.

So Captain Misato Katsuragi had the privilege of operating this very epitome of bland efficiency. The 3rd generation Prius in 'oxford' white with the NERV fig leaf on the front set of doors stood there, taunting her. Misato was fairly sure 'oxford' was an English word meaning 'snow which has not yet been pissed in'. The entire interior was a study of beige in cloth and plastic. It was efficient, practical, modern, and Misato hated every inch of it.

Misato's every action with the car spoke her frustration and every slammed door and slap on plastic made shinji cringe. It was made all the worse by the lack engine noise to cover it. Even when she spoke it sounded like just being in the car made her angry. It put Shinji on edge.

"So we have to stop for some food on the way home, I haven't had a chance to shop since the attack…" Misato said as she pulled the car out of the garage and into the glow of the streetlights.

"Anything you'd like for your first meal in Tokyo-3?" Misato said and looked over at Shinji. She was surprised to find him pressed up against the passenger seat, as far from her as he could get.

"Shinji, what's wrong?"

"You're mad."

"Yeah, but not at you…" Misato said. She was learning that she had to be careful with Shinji. He was a really sensitive kid. She took a deep breath before continuing.

"Shinji, I am not angry, not really. I am just frustrated that's all."

"Did I do something wrong?"

"What? No no not with you, not with you at all. Its this car, yeah it goes and everything but I dunno, I like things with more style, more flair. This thing is the way it is to do something, but nobody designs cars like these and calls them a thing of beauty. My old car, the alpine, was hand made in some shed by a bunch of Frenchmen who probably took 2 hour lunches and smoked a pack a day. There was personality there." Misato paused as she inserted her ticket into the gate box and scanned her NERV ID. She continued once the gate opened.

"Cars like these are made in some factory by a bunch of robots. They design the shape by calculating the aerodynamic qualities at low speed. That's not beauty, that's just math. Life makes things beautiful, the passion to live and create. You can feel it when you drive a machine made with passion, y'know?"

Shinji did not know, in fact she had lost him after the lazy Frenchmen, but he was amazed at the feeling with which she spoke. There was so much emotion, but she was not yelling or anything.

"I think I understand Misato. The seats were more comfortable in your car too."

"Uh, thanks Shinji."

It was quiet in the car. Despite being a NERV facility, the hospital was not in the geofront and it only took a few minutes to get to a small grocery store. As Shinji watched Misato take things from the shelf, he became… worried.

"Misato-san, please don't take this the wrong way, but what are you planning to make with curry powder, canned fish, beer, and 2 instant noodle bowls?" Shinji asked as they stepped into the checkout line.

"Well, um, just the super beef bowls with some curry to spice it up a bit." Misato was a little embarrassed when she said it out loud. "I'll be honest Shinji, with two people, money will be a little tight and…"

Shinji closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. It was the first time she had seen him express disapproval, or even annoyance.

"Okay, what is your per plate budget?" Shinji said, looking back up at her then pulling items out of the basket to check price tags.

"My what?" Misato said, a little surprised at the sudden assertiveness.

"Your per plate budget, your goal for money to spend per serving of food. In this case your money set aside for food over a given period, lets say between paychecks, divided by the number of servings you need to prepare." Shinji said, grabbing the basket from her and heading back into the market.

"Well I just kinda buy food as I need it." Misato said, following him. She nearly ran into him when he stopped suddenly and turned around.

"You don't have cost of food budgeted?" He asked. Misato could see his right eye twitch just a little.

"Well I… no, no I do not." She replied, expecting the boy to explode at any second. It was always the quiet ones. Instead he closed his eyes and took several deep breaths before looking at her again.

"Remember that restaurant I told you about?" He asked, and Misato nodded.

"I had that place running leaner than an African marathon, so its-"

"SHINJI!" Misato yelled then ducked down as she felt the whole store turn towards them, tugging the boy with her.

"What-"

"Young man, I don't know about your father or the families you lived with, but while you live under my roof, you will NOT use language like that." She said, finger in his face. "Do you understand me?"

"Please Misato, its just a saying, I would never say it with a gaijin around."

"Shinji, never again, do you understand me?" She said.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I won't say it anymore."

"Good, and don't say that word, its rude… now, you were saying you had the restaurant running… efficiently?" She said, standing back up and letting him go. Shinji straightened back up, but the assertiveness from before was gone. She felt bad bursting his bubble like that, but she was shocked to hear such a nice boy say something like that. She had heard horror stories out of the post impact foster system, but who would teach a kid something like that?

"Yeah, I, um… I did a lot of jobs in the kitchen and I just sort of picked up doing the shopping and stocking as well as the cooking. What I was going to say was that we need to figure out a budget before we buy food." Shinji checked the items already in the basket. "Okay so all together this is about 2000 Yen. Between the two of us, that's about a 1000 Yen per plate and that is way too much."

"Actually the fish are for my pet penguin." Misato says, as if this was the most normal thing in the world. It makes Shinji pause for a split second but does not bother him. The idea does not even breach the top 10 on the list of weird things he had seen in this city.

"Okay, so those are 300 Yen, so a total of 1700 Yen between us, 850 per plate. Is that about how much you spend on a meal?" Shinji said.

"Uh-huh" She responded with a nod.

"Misato, please never go into the restaurant business."

They left a while later with fresh vegetables, rice, several very small packages of spices, one whole (if on the small side) chicken, and a can of fish. Misato had relinquished the beer, saying she had enough to last till tomorrow at home.

As they pulled up to the apartment building, Shinji noticed there were no lights on in the windows and even the parking lot was empty. Misato explained that the building was mostly empty normally and the other tenants had probably not returned after the evacuation order yet. Misato grabbed her briefcase and one plastic bag and Shinji took the others. Several flights of stairs later and they stood in front of the door. Misato fished out her NERV ID and scanned it through the lock.

"It is good to be home." She says as she walks through the door, setting her things down to take off her boots.

"Thank you for having me Misato-san." Shinji said as he stepped inside, closing the door behind him with his hip.

"Shinji, this your home now too, you're not a guest. "

"T-thank you Misato-san. It is good to be… home."

Shinji considered that statement as he stepped out of the entryway and into the kitchen. While he agreed with the general spirit of the phrase, it was difficult to grasp the specific nature of 'home' when it was obscured by trash and 'good' when he could only imagine the fine if the health inspector had ever seen the restaurant like this. It would have been enough to buy a bulldozer to tear the place down. Misato set her groceries on the table and went to change. Shinji put the bags he carried on the table as well and began looking through cupboards. He was still looking when he heard her come out of her room.

"What'cha lookin' for Shinji?" He heard her say.

"Just trying to find where everything is, where do you keep the-" Shinji stopped as he turned away from the cabinets to face Misato. Her legs were long and really smooth looking and wow those shorts didn't cover very much.

"Paper towels are on the counter by the sink." She said.

"Huh? Oh that's not what I was legging for, LOOKING for, looking for, w-why did you think I needed those?"

"Your nose is bleeding."

Several hours later Shinji Ikari lay on the futon in his new room. Captain Katsuragi was really nice he thought. Once he managed to stop looking like a complete animal, they had a really nice dinner and there was more than enough for leftovers. He had never processed a chicken with a combat knife before. Meeting Pen-pen was nice. He even tried some of the chicken Misato gave him but Shinji felt like that a little too close to cannibalism.

He lay there for a while, thinking that he had definitely had worse rooms, but he could not remember a better one. It still didn't feel right though, he didn't feel safe. Like someone could come in and he wouldn't notice and by the time he woke up it would be too late.

Shinji threw the blanket off himself and rolled off the futon. He pulled the mattress into the corner opposite the wall the room shared with the living room. Sitting down with his back to the corner and his knees pulled up in front of him, Shinji pulled the blanket around himself.

There, that was much better.

End

So yeah, there is a lot going on with Shinji and most of its not good.

These next few chapters may be a little slow, the real forward momentum is going to start after Shamshel and in my outline I kinda neglected to write anything for the intervening stuff: Starting school, training in the EVA, first meeting Rei, all that stuff. So yeah, I suck, please stick around.

Just cause I like dropping hints, our crossover character from literature comes from another four letter call caps agency, which it turns out was also run by SEELE.


	6. Chapter 6

I had meant to do this on a chapter per week basis and here we are nearly a chapter a day later since I started this. Given they are slightly short I may end up compacting them into fewer, longer, chapters at some point. I just dislike really long chapters because if I get interrupted, it is difficult to find my place again.

As always, please read and review, I love the feedback I am getting!

Warnings for this chapter: If any implications about Shinji's past have bothered you so far, the cause and source is identified. Also if Hare Krishnas freak you out ("like, man") one ISKCON member does make a brief appearence.

Chapter 6

The angel had attacked on Saturday, and Shinji had slept until Tuesday. On Wednesday morning Shinji Ikari woke up, made his bed and put on a t-shirt and sweat pants. He could do this, he thought, it was nothing he had not done before and there was only so much the task could throw at him. As he stepped out of his room and turned to confront the piles of trash covering much of the apartment, his confidence waned significantly

With people still returning after the evacuation order was rescinded, school was not scheduled to start again until Monday, so Shinji had 4 days to get the apartment cleaned up. He figured he would need all 4 of them. It wasn't that he was a freak about it or anything, having things clean just made getting around easier. It would also help the smell quite a bit. He had gotten an apron on and trash bags set up by the time Misato came out of her room, still wearing those cut-offs from last night. Shinji was ready for it this time and kept it together this time, much to his credit he thought.

"Good morning Misato-san!" Shinji said with a smile that Misato had no recollection of being associated with morning.

Misato yawned stretched her arms above her head. "Good morning Shinji, why are you up so early? You don't have school until Monday."

"I know, I just woke up and wanted to get started on cleaning."

"Come again?"

"I wanted to start cleaning up."

"Why?"

"Cause I know what lives in dirty kitchens."

"Like?"

"Misato… Would you like some breakfast?" Shinji said as he put down the garbage bags and headed to the kitchen. He left the apron on, a little food would not hurt it under whatever else he got in today.

"I don't know want to know, do I?"

Shinji was already getting the left over's from last night's dinner out. "Not if you want breakfast." Misato was actually running quite behind if she was to get to work on time, so Shinji packed her a lunch. The cleaning actually went surprisingly quick, and by midday he had the living room clear. It needed new tatami but that could wait until the rest of the apartment was finished. Shinji considered starting on Misato's room but quickly thought better of it, and the door across from his room gave him a bad feeling.

This how the next 3 days went for the most part. Shinji would get up early to start cleaning, share breakfast with Misato, and when she got home they would go shopping as necessary and he would make dinner. It had made a comfortable routine and on Monday morning Shinji was not looking forward to school.

School was… unpleasant. Cleaning and cooking he at least felt like he was getting something done, but school was like running into a wall over and over again. He was good at math he actually used, but other than that he had always had trouble and it only got worse when he started missing days and not doing his homework while he was working. He could read fine, and pretty fast too, but poetry and stuff like that was beyond him.

The school was not far, so Shinji chose to walk even when Misato offered to drop him off for his first day. As he walked down the sidewalk, he saw other kids in the school uniform, boys dressed like him in white shirts and black slacks, and girls in green jumpers and white blouses. None of them tried to talk to him, and that was just fine as he had his SDAT in his ears.

He was about halfway there, judging by the house numbers he passed, when a young man with a shaved head approached him. The man tapped the side of his head in the universal gesture for "please take whatever those are out" and Shinji removed his ear buds.

"Hello young man, would ya like a book?"

Shinji found the question unusual, he had never heard it before. "Um…"

"Great here ya go!" The bald man slapped the brick-like paperback into Shinji's chest and jogged away.

As someone who didn't like being touched in the first place and was completely unaccustomed to the idea of gifts from strangers, Shinji was a bit stunned and it was a minute or so before he looked down at the very thick but rather cheaply bound book.

"Bu-gu-va-do ge-ta" He sounded out the kanji for the unfamiliar title. He didn't even try reading what ISKCON was supposed to stand for. Shinji stuffed the book in his bag and proceeded on his way, probably late because of the weird book.

"What a strange person."

"Mornin' Rits!"

"Misato, you seem unusually… chipper, this morning." Dr. Akagi was decidedly not chipper. In fact the word chipper had never occurred to anyone to describe the doctor and this condition was likely to remain for the foreseeable future.

"I got up this morning after a good night's sleep and a cute guy made me breakfast. He makes a good pot of coffee for a kid." The captain said, throwing her jacket over a chair before sitting down across the paperwork filled desk from her blond friend.

Dr. Akagi cocked an eyebrow. "So that's why you wanted him. Do you have him cleaning too?"

"I didn't even have to ask. I got home Thursday and the living room and the kitchen were spotless! He even had dinner ready."

Ritsuko snickered and needled her friend "Well look at you, found yourself a wife."

"Yeah, yeah… If he is fair game than so is that lieutenant of yours." Misato retorted.

Ritsuko fake gasped and sat straight up in her chair. "Captain Katsuragi, I haven't the slightest idea what you mean and resent the implication that I would do ANYTHING unprofessional or in violation of NERV regulations regarding staff conduct." She said with mock indignation. Both women managed to keep a straight face for all of 3 seconds before breaking into simultaneous laughter.

"Okay okay…" Ritsuko said and took several deep breaths before continuing. "What can I help you with this morning Captain? I imagine the paperwork on your desk is no lighter than my own." Dr. Akagi said after they had both calmed down.

"Well its actually about Shinji. Ritsuko, he seems really messed up. "

"Having second thoughts?"

"No, I am just worried. I mean, he jumps at everything, its like he is afraid if I am upset I am going to take it out on him, and some of the things he says. He told me the last family he was with made him work all the time to earn his keep, but his file said NERV was paying every family a big stipend to take care of him. What happened to this kid Rits?"

Ritsuko was actually a little surprised at the question "Misato, did you get the briefing on the pilot psychological profile conditioning program?"

"Noooo, I didn't know we had a pilot psych profile conditioning program… Ritsuko, maybe I haven't heard about this because I am really not going to like what it is."

Dr. Akagi turned in her chair and opened a file cabinet beneath her desk and took out a black NERV folder, which she handed to Misato. "Well you are cleared for it, here. You want the short version with small words like normal?"

"Bite me… and yes."

"At the outset of project E it was determined that due to qualities of their minds when introduced to the entry plug hardware, as well as other factors, that is was necessary for the pilots to be children. Once those children were identified, a correct psychological profile for a pilot was established and programs were put in place for many of the potential pilots in order to create a subject who matched that profile. Other potential pilots were left alone as a control group." Dr. Akagi explained.

"Ritsuko… this profile its…" Misato said as she read, aghast at what the file described

"A sociopath? Not quite. While the program is designed to create certain traits that would indicate anti-social personality disorder, it also looks to minimize the more problematic tendencies. What we are looking for, to put it briefly, is a compliant subject who will accept orders and carry them out without hesitation. This requires a certain emotional detachment of course. The control subjects have mostly normal lives, though NERV does intervene if the subject's safety or ability to pilot are threatened. Shinji was part of the test group, where the circumstances of his life were influenced in one attempt to create someone matching the needed profile. From initial observation, it seems to have exceeded. He piloted the evangelion with minimal resistance, less than even his father anticipated."

"Wait, Ritsuko… Are you telling me his father knew about this?"

"Misato, Commander Ikari is the head of the conditioning project. He was the one who insisted Shinji be in the test group and he has overseen the entire program personally."

"STAND, BOW, SIT!"

"Good morning class, glad to see you all back safe. I understand we will have a few absences today but I am told the families of our remaining students have contacted the administration and I am pleased to say it appears everyone is all right. Now we have a new student. Mr. Ikari, if you please."

"My name is Ikari Shinji, its nice to meet you all."

"Very good, thank you. Why don't you have a seat next tooo… Mr. Aida, raise your hand boy, thank you. The seat next to Mr. Aida, against the wall will do fine."

End

So yeah, two things.

First, the laziest Hare Krishna is actually taken directly from an experience I had in college. As the scene is in this story is pretty much exactly what happened to me. I was listening to an MP3 instead of an SDAT of course. It is kind of a stupid story, but of the ways to get something like that in Shinji's hands, it felt like the least contrived. Those guys are EVERYWHERE. That was actually how I got my first copy of the Bhagavad Gita, though it was as mentioned rather cheaply made and fell apart before I finished with it.

Second, yes we are starting to push further from canon in character personalities besides Shinji. These are different people and have different motivations.


	7. Chapter 7

Okay so last expo and character chapter before things really kick off and the plot gets going. I'm gettin' excited. This is also getting to where I have already written quite a bit of content. I will admit, I am not totally satisfied with this beginning and at some point in the future I will revise for style (no plot changes though) and group them into 1 or 2 total chapters.

Chapter 7

Misato Katsuragi was shocked by what she had just learned. What was worse was that her best friend not only knew about it, she was part of it and was rationally explaining to her why it was necessary. The worst part was it was making sense.

"Misato, nobody likes that we have to use children for this, but as I said if we are going to put children in harm's way it should be as few as possible. That means having a small pilot corps and that means we need these kids to be obedient and able to carry out orders. Unlike flying a plane or driving a tank, the pilot has to actually will the Eva to violence and that means we need pilots who can do that without emotion into it. Its horrible, but it is necessary when the alternative is the death of all humanity, if not all life on Earth. When this is all over, I assure you the pilots will have the best possible care and won't want for anything."

"If they survive, Rits. That is a big if after this first fight."

"Misato, you are being very negative about this. We won, using the prototype and an untrained pilot. Soon the first production type will be fitted for combat, and you know Asuka, she has been training for this her entire life and is as healthy as any girl her age, mentally and physically."

"And what about Rei then?"

"Misato, Rei's condition is not connected to her treatment by NERV in any way. When she was examined as a child, we believed she had a simple case of albinism, it's a minor birth defect and she presented a fairly normal case apart from the pigmentation of her hair. As she got older, her body reacted adversely to incorrectly copied hormones being produced within her ova. They were removed surgically and she has recovered fine. She sees me every week and we manage hormone therapy so she will develop as normally as possible. Her irregular behavior is a side effect of her medications."

"But Shinji…"

"Shinji saved the world last week and if anything that shows the program works. If it would make you feel better I can look into having him seen by a specialist to determine if drug therapy might help. Misato, I need you to be clear on this though, you cannot share any piece of this conversation with the pilots."

School passed quickly and Shinji was happy the first day back had been designated for reviewing evacuation and shelter procedures and not actual education. At lunch, the boy who sat next to him in class had joined him under the shade of a tree.

"So Ikari…" Kensuke Aida started, leaning in. Shinji leaned away, really uncomfortable with the lack of distance. "When did you get into town?"

"Um, just last Saturday actually. Would you mind not getting so close Aida-san?"

Kensuke obliged and scooted back to a more socially acceptable distance. "So the day the giant monster attacked then. Aaaaand your last name is Ikari, like _Commander_ Ikari of NERV?" Kensuke Aida tilted his head as he leaned in again, the sun light creating enough glare off his glasses that Shinji could not see his eyes.

"Um, uh, yeah, H-he is my d-dad, w-w-w…" Shinji was getting very uncomfortable now, his hands were pushing at the ground, ready to push himself up and run. He started looking around, looking for holes the fence or a door he could lock from the inside, somewhere away from the questions.

"Hey!" Kensuke almost yelled, making Shinji turn back towards the boy. It was not that glasses wearing young man scared him; it was what he wanted to talk about. "Ikari-san, calm down, calm down, I'm sorry I asked."

Ken had moved back several more feet and the distance, along with a change in subject, allowed Shinji to relax. They ate lunch together and Kensuke told Shinji all about the school and the other kids in their class. Shinji asked about Aida's family and he told him that he lived with his dad and his mom was gone. Taking comfort in the similarity, Shinji told him his mom was gone too, and he lived with Captain Katsuragi.

"So she is an officer at NERV?"

"Y-yeah…" Shinji was a little more comfortable approaching this topic this way, but it still put him on edge.

"Hey man, I am sorry I freaked ya out earlier, if you don't want to talk about it, its fine."

"Yes, I mean no, I would rather not talk about it."

"Cool with me. I know I keep saying it but I am sorry about before." Kensuke pulled his glasses off and breathed on them before starting to clean them with his shirt. "Dad says I need to learn to read people better, and I guess I didn't see that it was making you uncomfortable until it made you _really_ uncomfortable."

"T-thanks, Aida-san."

"Call me Ken, Ikari-san"

"O-okay, please call me Shinji then."

"Alright Shinji… so this Captain Katsuragi, she good lookin'?"

And so Shinji Ikari made his first friend his own age in as long as he could remember.

After school Misato picked him up, still in the NERV livery hybrid, and took him back to the geofront to begin his training. Well he supposed it was a bit like school. The actual work would start tomorrow. First they had him fill out paperwork, then they took his picture, then he filled out some more paperwork, then they issued him a cell phone like Misato's, then he filled out more paperwork regarding NERV policies on cell phone use.

He dutifully filled out the paperwork, smiled for the picture and was told to not smile for the picture, and had to ask how to use the phone.

The fitting of the plug suit was not an experience he wished to ever repeat or discuss. It took several hours for the polymer to cure before the suit could be removed and the sensation started with feeling like he was covered in sludge to his entire body being squeezed too tightly before the suit finally reached the "snug, but comfortable" feeling he was told it should have. By the time Misato and Shinji returned home, Shinji could tolerate instant ramen before collapsing in bed.

School the next day, to Shinji's disappointment, concentrated on history. It was not his best subject, though far from his worst, it was just so boring. Today the lesson was about the impact wars. Several simmering conflicts boiled over as resource scarcity rose sharply. Korea was seen as a best-case scenario, where local councils followed dissolution of both standing governments and individual military units brought peace then formed a new state together. The India/Pakistan conflict was at the opposite end of the spectrum, having gone nuclear right away. The people of the region were now a culture in exile, especially painful given the connection of their cultures to various sites now part of the region known as the South Asian Exclusion Zone. No recognizable life remained, and due to radiation the UN enforced a strict quarantine of the area. Nobody was allowed in and there was nobody left to come out.

At lunch, Ken told Shinji there were stories of monsters, created from human and animals by the fallout, that roamed the SAEZ and that was the real reason UN forces prevented any access. Shinji found this dubious.

"Doesn't it sound more reasonable that they don't want anybody going in then coming back out and contaminating even more of the region?"

"Yeah that's the official story."

"Let me guess, I should never believe the official story?"

"Damn right."

"Uh huh, you're not one of those people who think second impact was an attack by aliens, are you?"

Later, at NERV…

Shinji made a mental note that he owed Aida Kensuke an apology then remembered he wasn't allowed to tell him he was right, kind of. He was in a briefing room, set up just like a movie theater, watching an informational film for new NERV employees. He had just found out that second impact was the result of attempts to communicate with an alien life form found in the Antarctic. The massive amount of energy released was thought to be secondary to the release of a high-energy signal, presumably to its home world. The angels are thought to be the response to that signal. Shinji saw a lot of holes in that story, but didn't say anything.

After the presentation, Shinji was introduced to the pilot simulator. It filled with LCL just like in the Eva, but he did not freak out as badly this time. Training was centered on basic movement and use of Eva scale firearms. Find the target, locate the core, and shoot. The weapons were not meant to be reloaded by the Eva in combat and did not rely on the ammunition to cycle, so there were no malfunctions to clear. Sub-systems and computers within the Eva took care of holding the weapon steady and aiming, so all Shinji had to do was look where he wanted to shoot and fire. It was like an arcade game but after hours of it Shinji was exhausted.

When they left, Shinji fell asleep in the car on the way home. He still made dinner when they got home, he was not tired enough to stomach instant noodles again. As he brought his knees up to his chest and watched the door, waiting for sleep to take him, Shinji had a thought. He was being trained to defeat the angels at range. From the video he saw of his first fight through, he did not remember most of it himself but they said that was normal given the trauma, he had fought the angel up close. As he drifted off to sleep, he wondered why nobody was teaching him to fight that way.

Elsewhere…

"ACHOO!"

"Bless you, ya alright Ssam?"

"Yes, thank you. Pass the kimchi, would you Vitali."

The next two days proceeded in a familiar way. Shinji made breakfast, went to school, had lunch with Kensuke, trained at NERV until his mind and body were numb, came home, made dinner, and slept in his corner. He dreamed of shooting kaiju in his sleep. Kensuke found the stories of his training, what he was allowed to tell, interesting. Shinji liked hearing about Kensuke's father job, he was an engineer. Shinji liked being around Kensuke, they both had room to improve their social interaction, and Shinji felt relaxed instead of trying to project a pleasing image.

On Friday, things began to change. On Friday, Ayanami Rei would be released from NERV medical, Suzuhara Toji would return to school, and a blue pattern would be detected heading East over the South China Sea.

End

So is the author a hack? Whose eating Kimchi with Vitali? Who the hell is Vitali anyway? And why does every long form NGE fic use that sneezing gag anyway?


	8. Chapter 8

Yay, finally getting this thing going. Please keep up the reviews, I enjoy both the criticism and the complements.

Chapter 8

Friday morning started in what had become the familiar way in the Katsuragi/Ikari household. Shinji was up and clean first and had coffee and breakfast ready by the time Misato woke up. By 0700 they had both left, Misato for work and Shinji for school.

On his way towards the school, Shinji saw the blue haired girl from the hanger walking some distance ahead of him. He ran to catch up and saw that she still wore several bandages and had her left arm in a sling. He also only realized as he got close that she was at least 4 inches taller than. It wasn't that she was tall, Shinji knew he was short.

"H-hi there, I'm Ikari Shinji, we um met I guess you could say when the angel attacked."

"Yes, we did." She replied, not looking at him as he walked beside her.

"You're a pilot too, right?"

"Yes, I am."

Shinji walked besides her in silence for several minutes. They were almost to the school and she had said 5 words to him. She was really pretty, even with the bandages on and he really wanted to talk to her but he wasn't good at this in the first place and now she probably knows he is awkward and thinks he is a freak. She'll talk to everyone and it will be just like the last time and the whole school will laugh at him and… Shinji stopped, physically and mentally. Rei kept walking but Shinji was thinking.

I know how to act. I act okay and calm all the time when I am mad. As long as its not in front of father or Dr. Akagi or someone like that I can do it. I am going to try acting normal, these people don't know I am weird yet; maybe I can pull it off. If she thinks I'm a freak then it was just speeding up the inevitable anyway.

Shinji Caught back up to the blue haired girl. "H-hey I did not get a chance to ask, you know when the angel attacked and everything, what's your name?"

The girl still did not turn to him or stop walking.

"Ayanami Rei."

"Okay, Ayanami-san, I'm sorry if I hurt you in the hanger, I do not know what I was thinking. I probably just made it worse."

"You did not."

"Well, that's good to know. So um, what class are you in?"

"2-1."

"C-cool, we are in the same class then."

They crossed through the school gates and when Shinji saw Kensuke waving he waved back. When he turned to look at Rei she had already walked away. Once they got to class, Shinji saw Rei already there, staring out the window. That's what she seemed to do most of the time, or at least every time Shinji looked at her, which was often.

"So, got a thing for Ayanami, huh?" Kensuke said as they walked to their normal spot under the tree at lunch.

"She is… like me." Shinji replied, scanning the crowd of students for the blue haired girl.

"What, you mean like she works… you know."

"Yeah, I… I met her the first day I was here. If I couldn't… you know, they were going to have her do it. She was already injured though."

Shinji had become more comfortable discussing being a pilot and he felt better talking to someone about it. They still avoided mentioning some words, both because it kept Shinji calm and because he'd rather it not be known openly. He was guilty over the destruction caused during the battle. Nobody had told him directly but he had seen some of the work Misato had brought home. There had been an evacuation order but Shinji felt bad for the people coming back to destroyed homes and jobs.

"Oh, hey got somebody I want ya to meet, his family just got back today and he said he was going to get to school about lunchtime." Kensuke said.

Shinji did the math in his head. "What took his family so long? The evacuation order was lifted 10 days ago."

"They got in a car accident and his kid sister was hurt. They couldn't come back until she was well enough to move."

"Wow, that's pretty bad. Did you talk to him, how is he holding up?"

"You can ask him yourself, I see him." Kensuke pointed towards the school gates. "HEY TOJI!"

What struck Shinji about the boy that waved back was just how big he was. He had broad shoulders and with his sleeves rolled up Shinji thought his arms must be twice as thick as his own. As he got closer, Shinji saw he was head and shoulders bigger taller than he or Ken. When Toji reached them, Shinji was surprised to see Ken and he embrace.

"How are ya, man? How is Sakura holding up?" Ken said once they separated. Shinji assumed Sakura was Toji's sister.

Toji looked quite sullen. "She's alive, awake, definitely not getting any worse. Docs say she'll be able to go home in a couple weeks if nothing changes. I'll be happy once she is home."

"Me too man, hey I want you meet this guy. This is Ikari Shinji, Shinji, this is Suzuhara Toji. Toji, this is the guy."

Toji grabbed Shinji by left hand and nearly yanked him off his feet. He shook Shinji's hand vigorously and patted him on the shoulder. "So you're the guy, huh!"

"I-I g-guess…" Shinji wasn't sure if Toji was being violently nice or nicely violent. "W-what guy am I?"

"He knows Shinji, I know you didn't want anybody else to know, but Toji can keep a secret and he is a good friend. That and I noticed you kinda twitch a lot, so whatever your afraid of has Toji to deal with now."

Shinji didn't know Toji would deal with an angel but he seemed nice enough. As they headed to their usual spot under the tree to eat lunch, Shinji spotted Rei. After he got her attention he jogged over to her.

"Ayanami-san, I was, um, wondering if um… would you like to come eat with us. I saw you were alone and company makes food better."

The blue haired girl looked at him silently for a second then picked up her small plastic bento.

"Very well, I am willing to see if this is true."

"O-okay, great!"

They sat down with Ken and Toji and introductions were made. They sat in a half circle in the shade, Kensuke on the furthest left, and proceeding right Toji, Shinji, and Rei.

"So he was the one that fought the first one, cause you were hurt, but you're a… you know, too?"

"Yes, I am a pilot."

Toji, already sitting , put his hands on the ground and bowed his head, nearly touching the dirt before sitting back up.

"You both have my eternal gratitude…" Toji said.

"Oh boy here we go." Said Ken, covering his face with his palm. Toji turned to his friend to reply.

"Hey man, you know what? These two are goddamn warriors, fighting for the rest of us, putting their asses on the line so we can go about our cushy lives." Toji turned back to Shinji and Rei. "You 2 are Samurai in my book. You ever need anything I can get, or need something I can do, say the word and it is yours."

"Don't talk like that dude, you sound like a gangster or something." Ken said, getting waved off by Toji for his trouble.

"Thank you Toji. If we are friends than with everyone sitting here I think this is the most friends I have ever had." Shinji said with a happy smile.

Rei raised her hand from her lap. "There is something I need."

"Whadya got?"

"My phone is in my right pocket, it is about to ring." Rei pointed to the right hip pocket of her jumper, on the same side as her slung arm.

"How do you know th-"

Toji was interrupted by a phone ringing, but Rei was quite curious that it wasn't coming from her. Shinji awkwardly reached in his pants and pulled out his NERV phone. He flipped it open and stared at it for a sec as it continued to ring before remembering he had to press the answer button.

"T-this is Shinji. Oh hi Misato…" Shinji turned to Rei. "Yeah she is with me, do you need to-… W-what! Another one!" Shinji yelled the last words then looked around to make sure nobody was staring after being admonished over the phone. "Front of the school, now?... Okay, see you there." Shinji flipped the phone shut.

"Um, we need to go." Sinji looked to Rei again. "Misato says she will meet us at the gate… its another one." Goodbyes were said and good luck exchanged before Shinji and Rei ran for the front of the school.

"Awesome!" Kensuke was already up. "Come on man I can get my camera and we can get away before the lockdown starts!" No sooner had he stopped speaking than the siren began to sound. "Crap come on, lets go!"

Rei and Shinji met up with Misato at the front of the school, the captain screaming at them to get in the car. They barely had time to their fasten seat belts in the back seat before she slammed the accelerator pedal down and they were off with quiet buzzing in the NERV hybrid

Misato took a black NERV file folder from her briefcase in the passenger seat and gave it to the pilots behind her.

"This angel is airborne, so I'm glad we got you acquainted with the ranged combat systems, Shinji. The blue pattern was initially detected over the South China Sea. This one being in the air, the Chinese got a good look at it off Taiwan. They wanted to call it Gwailo, but we are going to stick with the fifth angel, codename Shamshel. It is about 200 meters end to end. You can't really see it in the pictures, but eyes on the scene say the edges ripple as it moves, like its swimming. Ritsuko noticed it looked like a marine flatworm so we roped in a biologist from the Tokyo-2 aquarium to give an analysis."

Shinji and Rei looked through the folder and the glossy pictures of angel. The pictures were ordered oldest, and so furthest away, to most recent, which were from aircraft near the creature. The more distant pictures looked like a flying carpet with white teeth hanging below it. As the pictures became closer, the pilots could see it was a deep purple with rippling edges like frills, the color fading out to pink along the edges. On the underside there were 3 white conical structures, the teeth, two side by side near the leading end and one about midway down the body. On the topside were two ring shaped eyespots and two structures that resembled horns near the front.

"The angel will be passing over the West coast of Japan near Fukuoka-2 within the hour. The plan is for Shinji in unit 01 to intercept to the West of the city, which the angel should reach within 2 hours of reaching land. Rei, you will be on stand by to deploy in unit 00 as a last resort."

"Misato-san, does it looking like a flatworm tell us anything about it?" Shinji asked.

"No idea, the biologist gave us some quick notes based on his observations, they should be in there."

Shinji shuffled through the documents until he found the mentioned notes. He was interested in those white things beneath the body. He found what he was looking for and read aloud.

"The conical structures on the underside of the specimen resemble protrusions found on many flatworms of the class…" Shinji had to sound this out as the scientist had written it in latin letters instead of Kanji. "Turbellaria… The structure in the approximate center of the body corresponds to a mouth. While the pair of forward structures appears to be… appears to be… I think he miswrote this character, that can't be right."

"Well what does it look like, Shinji?" Misato asked, briefly looking back.

"Well it looks like it says dueling… well, um… I don't want to say." Shinji said, blushing.

"Rei, what does it say?"

Rei took the folder from Shinji and read aloud: "Dueling penises, Captain Katsuragi."

Misato laughed for several minutes while Shinji turned deep red. Rei found their behavior odd and but more amusing than the mention of genitals. Genitals were not funny.

It was not long before they were descending into the geofront on one of the freight elevators, just like the first attack. Misato could run the car without concern for ventilating the fumes this time though, and even Rei was grateful for the heater as they went deeper. The geofront was always so cold. Shinji wondered if it was like this in the wooded "surface" too. He wondered if he could go there after this battle.

Approximately 3 hours later…

"Hey Ken?"

"Yeah Toji?

"I want you to know that I consider you a dear friend and what I need to tell you should in no way take away from the bond we share, it just needs to be said now, before anything else happens."

"I love you too man!"

"I fucking hate you Kensuke Aida."

Some time previous to the above conversation…

"Okay Shinji, we have a few minutes left before launch, I want to go over this one more time."

"Okay Misato." Shinji Ikari sat inside the activated but immobile Eva. The body was still locked down, but he could look around and had been playing with the zoom functions, watching individual technicians scramble around the hanger. The mission brief appeared before him for the 3rd time since he had entered the plug.

"You will be launching from the furthest West point of the railway. You will engage the angel with the pallet rifle and retreat into the city as necessary. As we were not able to execute a full evactuation, attempt to delay its entry into the city if possible. However elimination of the target takes priority over avoiding casualties." It was painful for Misato to say that last part, especially given what she had learned about the pilot program the prior week. This was why it was necessary, so that when it was between innocent lives and killing the angels, the pilots would always make the right… no, the correct choice. Misato was not ready to call anything involving what had been done to Shinji 'right'.

"I got it. Find the target, locate the core, and shoot."

"Remember Shinji, this is the real thing. You have to maneuver for advantage and to evade. We don't know where the angels core is yet, we need to locate it with probing attacks or coax it into showing its weakness." Misato cautioned Shinji. She had seen it before: when a new recruit gets even a few days training they develop an overinflated confidence. It is actually a good thing because it gives them a bedrock of confidence as training continues and becomes more difficult. When they make mistake it holds them up and they do not become discouraged. They had not yet reached that point with Shinji, and he only had that balloon of confidence holding him up. His operation of the weapon was excellent, but it is not the same thing as knowing how to fight. Misato made a mental note to talk to her JSSDF contacts and see if she could get some tactical range time for Shinji.

For her concern Misato got a roll of the eyes from Shinji. "I said I got it!" he replied.

Lieutenant Ibuki turned her chair about to face Misato. "Commander, all is ready for launch."

"Thank you LT. Shinji, we are all green here, ready?"

"Ready!"

"Lieutenant, be ready to launch unit zero-one on my mark."

"Aye Ma'am" Maya lifted the clear polymer shield next to her station's keyboard, revealing the launch control and making the final connection between the electric railway system and her control.

"Three…two…one… Launch!" Misato commanded

Lt. Ibuki activated unit 01's catapult, sending the Eva surface-ward and pressing Shinji into his seat. 20 seconds later, a hatch to the west of the city opened, rails extended and unit 01 rises. A secondary rail brings a carriage bearing a pallet rifle arrives as the umbilical station rises from the ground. Shinji allows the automated arms of the umbilical station to attach the cable then shoulders the rifle. NERV VTOLs begin to circle the area, providing both the bridge and Eva additional views of the area.

"Eva unit 01, ready to go!" Shinji says confidently. He knows how to fight now, he actually has a weapon, and he has support. This won't be like…whatever happened with the first one. He remembered being scared, terrified down to his very core. But he beat that one and this time he can do it without passing out.

No sooner does Shinji transmit the message, then the angel appears, snaking its way through the hills at low altitude. As Shinji brings the rifle up, something catches his eye on the next hill forward. A quick look reveals nothing and he brings the rifle back up, drawing a bead on horn like structures near the leading edge of the angel. Something in the back of his mind makes him look at that hill again and he sees a tiny bit of movement among the trees.

"Knew it… okay zoom in…" Shinji lowers the rifle and tries to look closer.

"Shinji! Get your eyes on the target!"

"Misato, there is something there! Its two people…" Shinji said as he zoomed in further.

"Crap, Shinji, take a knee and use the hill for cover. Now what the hell is it?"

Shinji ignored Misato's order, the Eva standing in the open with its weapon down. "Its… Oh no, its Ken and Toji!"

"Who?!"

"They're in my class, they… They're my friends!" Saying that felt weird to Shinji. He liked it though. His friends. It felt good.

Misato looked on the upper left corner of the main screen, where unit 01's view was shown. "Crap, we have civilians in the field. Air wing, either tell them to get out and guide them to safety or make the pick-up."

Misato was shocked when she got a response not from the flight lead but from above and behind her. "Belay that order air wing. Warn them but do not risk pick up. If the civilians do not vacate the area it is only their fault if they are harmed."

Misato turned and glared at Gendo Ikari. "Commander, there is an angel down there!"

"Exactly Captain Katsuragi. That is an angel, a being capable of destroying all of mankind should we fail here. The lives of two children too stupid to follow a shelter order are immaterial in the face of such a threat." The elder Ikari said, hands as ever steepled in front of his face. "Should we diminish our reconnaissance capability by sacrificing a VTOL in an effort to save them, we could very well lose the battle because of it."

"Yes Commander…"

"I'm advancing! If I move up they will not be in the path of the angel."

Shinji brought the rifle up and began to move forward. The Eva's steps were clumsy on the uneven ground, with the machine nearly falling more than once. More inadequacies of training, they had never covered movement outside the flat city. He moved through the hills, keeping the rifle on the angel and feeling through walking sideways. He moved right and the angel lazily turned to keep its horned leading edge facing him. It was watching him and it made Shinji uneasy. It made no noise and while it may have been traveling quite fast before, now it was just floating there like a big purple physics defying magic carpet.

Shinji was sure his friends were out of the way now, but the angel was only getting closer to him. He had begun to slowly retreat towards the city, keeping the rifle trained on the angel the whole time. It was unnerving being watched by something with no eyes and he could just feel it examining him. It had been flying at hundreds of kilometers per hour but now it was moving so slowly.

"Shinji, open fire. No sign of the core yet and it seems to be acting cautiously so it may not take the bait until it understands you are a threat."

"W-where should I shoot?"

"The first angel's core was relatively central its body, so that would be a good start here." Dr. Akagi said to Misato, rather than over the radio.

"Okay Shinji, aim for center mass just like in practice, but be ready for anything!" Misato called out over the radio.

"O-okay, attacking!"

It felt as soon as he had pulled the trigger the rifle was wrenched from the eva's hands and off its feet. In a split second, the angel had extended long glowing tendrils from the pair of white structures. One hand grabbed the rifle and the other pulled the eva's feet from under it. The rifle was thrown aside and the Eva let to lay as the angel brought both appendages to a ready position, tips hanging above the plane of its body.

"Oh, fuck…" Was said, by who is really not important, there was enough to go around.

Shinji brought the eva to its feet as the angel, slowly at first, began to strike the ground in front of it with the glowing tentacles, making wide circles. Each strike threw up earth and forest, burning to ash in mid-air and leaving deep black gauges in the ground. As Shinji realized his umbilical had been severed when he saw the countdown beginning, the movements grew faster and faster until the whips were as one pink wall before the beast.

As the personnel on the bridge saw the aerial views, all present shared a moment of fear. As the angel slowly made its way forward, everything the lashing tendrils passed over was left a wide blackened path. Where the angel passed, nothing but ash remained. As it began to dig into a hillside, even that huge amount of earth was worn away to nothing, the ground flat in the angel's wake.

"Shinji, wake up and get moving! Get to another cable, we will send weapons up!"

"But my friends! They're in the path of that thing again!"

"Shinji! This is the fate of the goddamned planet we are talking about here. Maybe they got away, it doesn't matter if you don't get your head back in the fight." Misato groaned as her orders fell on deaf ears for the second time today as unit 01 scrambled over the hills. As it stopped, its heel slid in the earth, throwing up clouds. The Eva stood directly in front of where Aida Kensuke and Suzuhara Toji stood, petrified with fear.

"Hey Ken?"

"Yeah Toji?"

Shinji stared down the nearing wall of destruction. He didn't even know what he was thinking to do. He just knew that HIS friends were down there. People who had been nicer to him after know him for days, or in Toji's case less than a day, than many had been after knowing him for years. They trusted him to do this, to save everyone from the Angels and he had to fulfill that.

Exactly how he was to do that was what Shinji was thinking as the angel drew closer. Through the attacks, he catches glimpses of the angel.

"Shinji…"

It has shifted, its body as S-curve to push the bases of its arms forward. It is almost mesmerizing really, it looks random but he sees the thing through the attacks again and again in the same place.

"Shinji…"

It feels like time slows down and Shinji kind of laughs to himself as it hits him. Of course it is never random. Anything done that fast has to be ordered. If the arms, genitals, whatever, are so destructive, the thing has to make sure not to hit itself.

"Heh… I see it now."

"EARTH TO SHINJI, ANSWER ME DAMMIT!"

"Oh, sorry Misato, I guess I kind of spaced…"

"IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLE YOU JUST KINDA SPACED! " The captain screamed into the microphone she had pulled from the console at which the lieutenants sat. She had all but thrown the long-haired one out of his chair and she had one foot up on the desk. "Whatever you saw better be damned important because if its not so help me god I will find you before we all die horribly!"

"I-I'm sorry Misato, but I saw the pattern, don't you see it there?"

"We see the same thing as you Shinji, but its moving too fast to show up on camera as anything but a blur."

Now that he had seen the pattern, Shinji could see where the holes opened. It looked like, to keep the curtain effect constant, the angel moved its arms in spirals, but every time they crossed they had to uncross, probably to avoid being tangled. But it looked like everywhere except really close to the body, the angel kept the arms as far apart as possible. That probably meant it wasn't immune to the damage. The holes appeared where the angel had to uncross its arms, because the tips drifted furthest apart at those points.

"There are… its moving really fast but its following like a pattern. Its like in the kitchen when I chop up small stuff really fast, like herbs. When I first saw someone do it, it looked like he was just chopping down really fast, but its actually a complex motion you have to practice so you don't hurt-"

"Shinji! I get it, you see an opening, can you get through?"

The angel was getting close now. There was not enough room for the eva to take a stride and it was backed up to the hill on which Ken and Toji were. If he didn't do something soon, the angel would take him, then his friends, then everyone else in the world.

"Y-yeah I think I can."

Shinji deployed the progressive knife from the Eva's shoulder pylon and hefted it in the Eva's hand as it came to life. He heard the screech of the motor and felt the vibration through the Eva's hand. He took a deep breath and stepped forward, leading with the eva's left shoulder through the gap.

Evangelion unit 01 was thrown to the ground, one pylon severed near the shoulder, and armor boiled off from shoulder to fingertips all along the left side. Shinji wailed in pain as the eva fell back, slamming into the hillside only yards from the other children. For just a moment the attack slows but the angel quickly recovers and resumes its slow but apparently unstoppable advance.

On the command bridge, red sirens through everything in dark relief and klaxons sounded. "Dammit!" Captain Katsuragi said. "I thought he could do it. Get the JSSDF on the line, maybe an N2 strike will delay it again and we can retrieve the Eva."

"Ma'am, unit 01 is getting back up!"

Shinji's entire body felt like it was on fire. It was the shock of hitting the ground like that more than the burning. He felt the burning sure. But he was a cook dammit. You work in a kitchen, you play with fire, you get burned. The good cooks didn't stop getting burnt, fire is too unpredictable to never cross it. The burns just stopped hurting. He breathed heavy in the plug, red warning lights washing out the bright light of the outside world on the displays. The blade wasn't in his hand and the other pylon was missing. He didn't care

"I've been hit harder by girls, you _pathetic_ worm. These are my friends, and I'm gonna protect them!"

"Pilot's synch ratio has jumped to 110%!"

Eva 01 pushed off the hills side and charges with a roar. Shinji could feel the Eva responding faster now. That had been the problem before. He told it to move and it took too long. Now he could do this. The hole was small. It had been large enough to dive through, but too small to avoid contact.

The silence was somehow worse for Misato than the anguished scream. By all accounts the damage had been worse on the successful attempt than when the attack had bee rebuffed, but the eva had made it. The frill and horn had been stripped from the helmet and among the charred black Misato could see only slivers of green and purple.

The evangelion had rolled and stopped in a crouch, having dove through the gap. Smoke rose from its burn covered body, but neither the giant nor the pilot seemed to be reacting. Instead the Eva lunged for the body of the worm with outstretched arms. The impact brings the angel to the ground with the evangelion straddling it. The third structure, the one in the middle of its body now revealed its purpose.

As Misato watched the aerial view, the feed from the evangelion lost as it passed through the angel's attack, the mouth opened and she was reminded of a documentary she had seen on poisonous animals. It looked like the mouth of one of those snails the conch shells come from. A little thing when closed, it was huge as it opened and revealed…

"The core!" Shinji exclaimed just as the thing grabbed the eva with both arms. No amount of fortitude or tolerance could stop the scream that followed.

**Life is a passing thing, an experience, temporary by its very nature.**

_I don't want to die…_

**Pain is a part of life, thus pain too is a passing thing, an experience temporary by its very nature.**

The evangelion roared and plunged its hand into the mouth of the thing, grabbing the glowing red orb. As the arms worked their way through its remaining armor, its flesh burned but it was not stopped.

**Shinji Ikari, you more than most know that the key to getting through hardship is to…**

_…Know that it ends. Pain passes as quickly as it comes. It is a distraction from duty._

**Very good… What is your duty?**

_My friends believe in me, they came here because they believe I can protect them, I can't let them down!_

**Good enough for now... Correct this error in the universe, end its suffering.**

With the full force of the giant's body, unit 01 begins to squeeze. The angel finally makes noise now, shrieks of pain and terror as the core begins to crack. Its whip-like arms burn brighter and the smoke continues to rise from the Eva's body, but the pressure does not cease. Its mouth closes around the Eva's arms and acid washes over its hands, but those hands do not release.

**_Thou art an enemy of the rightness of the universe. You pervert the dharma by your very presence._**

The core shatters and the roar of victory from the evangelion outlasts the angel's death knell before both bodies go limp. There is no fire, only the stink of burned land, and wood, and flesh. Within the entry plug, Shinji's eyes were heavy as the pain, temporary though it may be, and exhaustion overcame him.

"I… am created…"

On a nearby hillside, two young men have watched the entire battle. They have no radio, and have not been privy to the communications from NERV. They sit frozen in shock for several minutes, even after both monsters in front of them have fallen silent.

"H-hey Ken…"

"I heard you the first time Toji."

"Not that… what the hell is a dharma?"

Aida Kensuke shrugs. The boys lay on the hillside, staring up at the stars as darkness falls.

"But that… was awesome."

End

Sorry the lead up to this took so long but I hope it was worth it!

Next chapter: The aftermath, new faces, and lots of fanservice. (One of those is a gross and horrible lie that I feel ashamed to have perpetrated on you all.)


	9. Chapter 9

This chapter was fun to write. Couple of cool reveals, at least for me, as this starts moving faster. I have gotten a couple comments regarding building up Shinji so he doesn't run away when the going gets tough. Yeah, that starts here.

I find writing Gendo difficult because I am trying to strike a balance between him being a masterful manager and realpoliker, and an off his rocker sadist. I am going to rewrite his first scene to try and convey that better.

Chapter 9

The conference room was dark but for the lights directly over the rectangular table, the rest of the room cast in shadow. At the table, Commander Ikari Gendo sat at the head, Vice Commander Fuyutsuki Kozo to his right. Beside the Vice Commander was the head of NERV military operations, Captain Katsuragi Misato. To Gendo's left were Dr. Akagi Ritsuko, head of the evangelion project, and her assistant, Lt. Ibuki Maya. In the shadows around them, various representatives of the subordinate departments within NERV stood; ready to give their input if called upon. Coffee and cigarette butts covered the table.

Gendo cleared his throat and laced his fingers together before beginning. "The operation was a success, however I use that description somewhat hesitantly. Can someone please tell me any way, short of us having failed to stop the angel, this op could have gone any worse?"

"Sir, no VTOLs were lost in this operation, Sir!" The head of NERV's air wing contributed. Misato groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She knew what was coming next. Unwritten rule of military conduct number thirty-seven: never be the first one to speak up when an officer is getting ready to chew out his staff.

"Indeed flight commander, but those same VTOLs also failed to secure the area and missed a pair of school children who were making no effort to hide." Gendo's voice did not rise as he spoke but the tone quickly became that of a parent scolding a child. It was made all the worse because between the commander's gloved hands and the reflection off his glassed, his face was almost totally hidden.

"Now does anyone else have any high points of this cluster fuck to contribute before we move on?"

Murmurs of "No, Sir" circled the room.

"Good, now… " Gendo sat up and took a drink from his coffee. Hardly anybody had slept and the battle had ended nearly 12 hours ago. "… Captain Katsuragi, as chief military officer and head of combat operations, what went wrong here and what do you feel we can change to do better?"

Despite the fact he could be down right cruel, Misato did have some respect for the Commander. He knew the most important rule of management: trust your subordinates. He did not second-guess her military experience or Dr. Akagi's scientific knowledge unnecessarily or try to involve himself in every decision. The call on the VTOL pick up of the errant kids had been correct, she had not been thinking about it clearly. His specialty, and where he would tolerate no deviance from his word, was running an organization.

"Thank you Commander…" Misato opened her valice and passed detailed damage assessments to the others before continuing.

"We originally detected the blue pattern early yesterday morning at 0530 local time. We confirmed it shortly afterwards, but did not call the pilots in until 1230. We were only able to deploy unit 01 as the angel approached the city. The fourth angel should be a confirmation of what we originally believed: The angels are targeting Tokyo-3. As such, I believe from now on the pilots should be brought in and placed on stand-by as soon as a blue pattern is detected, in order to give us more time to deploy the evangelions effectively."

Gendo turned to the blond "Dr. Akagi, do you have anything to add to this?"

"I agree in principal, however we are still getting too many false positives to launch operations at every pattern detected. I believe it would be acceptable to begin operations at confirmation though."

"Is that acceptable to you Captain?"

"Yes Commander."

"Good, see that it is implemented. Now please continue."

"Thank you. I would like to mention that the deployment of VTOLs for reconnaissance purposes was a success, and was vital when our feed from the Eva was lost. In the future, if sufficient weapons are available, arming these overwatch units may be useful. Moving on, Shinji's performance was not perfect, though it ultimately was his observation of an opening in the angel's attack that decided the outcome.

"Given the short amount of time we had to train the pilot, I do not find fault. He lacks discipline but given only a week of training he performed… adequately." Gendo Ikari, contrary to what most people thought, did give praise, even to his son. He just wasn't going to ever say it to the boy's face.

"Yes Commander. This is the most pressing issue however. The evangelion itself was heavily damaged. Between this and the current state of unit 00, we are currently without a truly functional unit. Furthermore, this showed the B-type equipment was completely inadequate. Now this will seem radical, but I think our entire philosophy on how to we plan to win these battles has to change." Misato said.

Gendo leaned forward and steepled his hands again. "I am willing to listen captain, continue.

"I was thinking about it, both angel kills so far have been in close range and unarmed. It reminded me of a saying in the military community regarding the value of superior training Vs. Superior equipment: you are the weapon, the gun, knife, whatever, is only a tool. Instead of teaching the pilots how to operate weapons, we should be teaching them how to fight, on their own, unarmed. With the repairs unit 01 will require, I believe we should not repair the B-type equipment, but replace it with something more suited to the close combat role I anticipate evangelions will continue to take. If needed we can always equip the units with the rifles, but they are not currently adapted to excel in close combat."

"Your analysis has merit. Dr. Akagi, in the interest of avoiding duplications of effort, has the evangelion project previously considered this possibility?"

Dr. Akagi took a long draw on her cigarette, thinking. After a moment, she spoke. "Well, we knew that in the beginning we would not have enough information about the enemy to specialize too much, so we designed the B-type equipment to be able to meet a variety of threats. Several other designs were put forth based on the same standard principles but not built, the thinking being we would produce that equipment which met the needs we observed and they would integrate with the existing infrastructure. I believe we have some designs for more durable equipment that could be of use here."

"Commander, there is something else. Our training syllabus is currently adapted from infantry combat programs, but anything from that background will be biased against significant close combat effectiveness. Melee weapon and unarmed training in armies is always based on the presumption that one is looking to gain a better weapon, or using pain to force compliance of a human subject. Neither of those applies here."

Misato paused and took a breath before continuing. She hated herself for even thinking of this idea, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense.

"I think it would be fair to say we are not looking to train soldiers. The pilots need to think like assassins. They need to quickly assess their target and its capabilities, and then use versatile skills to attack in a way tailored to the threat. We need professional killers of angels, and that means we need professional killers of men to train them."

It was a good idea. No, it was a great idea. Their entire thinking had to change and Misato had seen it. So why did she feel so shitty for giving it voice.

"Captain Katsuragi… You have clearly given this a lot of thought." Gendo began. "While I am not a military man myself, I understand your reasoning. I also understand your concern for the welfare of the pilots and the dangers of putting them in contact with the people you believe we require… However I agree that is what we require. Work with Dr. Akagi and find suitable persons, I want a short list of recommendations on my desk by this time tomorrow. Now, on to the damage assessments for the surrounding area…"

Shinji Ikari opened his eyes to a familiar hospital ceiling. Just trying to sit up was sent shooting pain through his arms and chest.

"Here young man, let me help you with that." It was the nurse from the last time in her old fashioned uniform. She gently placed her hand on Shinji's chest so he would lie flat, then raised the bed up from the side.

Seated, Shinji looked at the nurse for a while. She tilted her head and looked into Shinji's cold eyes. Finally, he spoke.

"This isn't real, is it?"

"That very much depends on how you define real. Yes, you are experiencing this here and now. No, I am not a figment of your imagination. We can talk about the rest another time." She stepped across the room to the window and opened the blinds, letting daylight in. She then turned and sat down on the bed next to Shinji.

"First, I want to tell how proud we all are of you. You did a very brave thing protecting your friends like that. I am glad seeing what other do not was so useful."

"T-thank you. I just couldn't let them… get hurt."

"They would have died, as would many others, had you not fought the battle."

"I know… So how long was I asleep this time?"

"Oh not terribly long, but you felt the pain of your chariot, and while the fire did not burn your flesh, your body still reacted to the pain, so you may stay a little longer this time." She placed her hand on his leg and he instantly felt comforted, like there was this warmth coming from her touch

"Yeah it was…pretty…intense…" Shinji lost the thought as another occurred to him. Did she call the Eva a chariot? "W-what did you call it?"

"Call what?"

"The evangelion… the robot! You called it a chariot, why?"

"Oh, just being old fashioned, you are a hero afterall. To ride a giant into battle against monsters that threaten all life on earth, doesn't it sound like something out of an epic poem?" She said then reached down, lifting his school bag then looking inside. She pulled out the thick book the weird man had given him on the street.

"Oh I love this one, how do you like it?"

"I actually haven't started it yet…"

"It is a wonderful story…" She said as she opened the cover. "Would you mind if I read some of it to you?"

"I guess not, I don't want to keep you…"

"Nonsense, it would be a privilege."

And she read to Shinji from the storied book, about the warrior Arjuna and his friend and the driver of his chariot Krishna, who was in fact a god taken the form of a man. She explained that the word for such a being was _Avatar_. Shinji felt the strange word in his mouth and was even able to say it after a few tries, though it still came out like a-va-ta-ro.

She explained how it was a conversation during a larger conflict between two sides of one family and how Arjuna was hesitant to go into battle against his relations. Krishna explains to him why he must fight and do his duty and how both are connected to the universe as a whole. As she closed the book she suggested he try reading it for himself a few times over, as it can take time to really get metaphors through antiquated language.

"So, did you like it? It was not originally written in Japanese, so some of the language may have been a little clumsy and…"

"What…The…Fuck…"

"Such language, what is wrong young man?"

"What's wrong? I am sitting here listening to someone, who I am not even sure is real, read me a book about a frightened soldier being told why he needs to fight _by a god_ who also happens to drive his chariot? Don't tell me you don't know what I hear in the Evangelion, which you keep calling _a chariot_, telling me why I have to fight. Am I Arjuna here? Is Krishna the voice in the Eva? What the fuck is going on?" Shinji was shaking, nervous and more than a little bothered by the realization that whatever is talking to him in the Eva may not just be in his head.

"Please calm down Shinji." She said and placed her hand on him again, and again warmth and comfort took hold of him. "Now I am happy to explain some things, but others will need to wait for another day. Please know I have nothing but your best interests at heart. Is that okay with you?"

Shinji nodded

"Alright. I cannot give you all the answers you seek, I can only help you along the path to wisdom. You are not Arjuna and this is a different situation. Krishna was the avatar of Vishnu and the Eva is not, nor does he speak to you in battle. The Gita has parallels to your situation, but it is not the whole of it. It is a religious text meant to have parallels to all of our lives. You do have a duty, a destiny, but you need to discover it yourself. If I give it to you, like a task or chore, it is not truly yours. I am just here to help you heal, like a nurse should."

"O-okay…" Shinji felt safe from her touch, but was still shaking. It felt like he was standing on the edge of a cliff and her touch was hand keeping him from falling. One wrong move could mean falling, but she was keeping him safe. Like he was balancing between horror and comfort on the edge of a hair.

"Now the last time we spoke, I gave you two gifts, do you remember?"

"Y-you said that I was b-blessed to see what other do not. And in the battle with the angel…"

"That's right, you saw the true nature of things and triumphed because of it. Like I said before, the fire did not burn your flesh this time, but you felt it as if it was your own skin, your own hands. This has caused damage beneath the skin, damage that would not normally heal itself. You are going to be okay though, and this too shall be a blessing. You will be able to touch what others cannot, and resist pain that would destroy lesser men. You will have to accept not feeling the world the same way anymore though."

She smiled at Shinji and gave him a kiss on the forehead then took his hand in hers and lifted it from the bed. Shinji felt his own movement, but her hand around his was only a slight pressure, there was no sensation of texture or temperature. He swallowed and breathed ragged breaths. He tried feeling the beeding with his other hand but found it was the same. He moved, there was something there, but no fine detail. They sat in silence for several minutes, uring which Shinji bit his lip and held back the short breaths that he knew would lead to tears. He wasn't going to cry in front of someone else, he was better than that. When Shinji had calmed himself, she spoke again.

"Now about the other gift."

"What other gift?"

The nurse blinked once and stared at him. For being a hero he sure was dense sometimes.

"The wallet, you know with your new cash card inside?"

"Oh that was from you!"

Yep, still a 14 year old boy she thought. Thoughts take two steps and _oh shiny _happens.

"Yes, and you haven't used it yet."

"Um, well, Misato pays for groceries and I don't really need anything else so I guess I haven't needed to."

"I see. Well, should you need to you have it. Besides, we women do like a gift once in a while."

Shinji thought of Rei and blushed. "I um, well its not like that."

"Of course it isn't, have you forgotten our discussion about mind reading?" She said as Shinji began to turn a deeper red and stammer. With a giggle she stood up and touched a fingertip to his forehead.

"Now, you need to rest, so I will be making my exit now. May you be blessed to touch what others cannot, and so shield them from harm.

In Dr. Akagi's office, the good doctor and the captain sat together in front of the MAGI terminal. They were staring at a very long list. On it was every assassin, mercenary, wet works operative, and respectable terrorist affiliated with the intelligence agencies of the many UN member states, as well as UN organizations like NERV.

"Where are we even going to start?" Ritsuko said after they had been staring at the list in silence for at least 10 minutes.

"Well… can we sort them?" Misato asked. With a few keystrokes, the blond doctor had brought up a list of fields. There were well over 50 different criteria.

"We can organize by any of these."

"Jesus… I… Rits I don't know how to find someone good and I won't have to worry about with the pilots. I don't want some psycho who is going to kill one in training or fuck Shinji up even more."

"How about this…" Dr. Akagi began setting up a search function. "… We will sort by work with UN and NATO organizations, since they recruit high-level operatives from member states. That will sort out the mobsters and the terrorists. Then sort by years active, most to least. I figure we want someone experienced. Then we prioritize those who work alone and in small teams, then make those who specialize in firearms low priority. Finally, we exclude anybody currently involved in a mission. It is pointless if we can't get them right away, right?"

"Yeah, okay… "Misato began looking over the resulting list. "Woah, John Clark! I thought he was dead."

"Oh… he is, Second American Civil War. I'm sorry, I did not realize this included deceased persons." Dr. Akagi said then corrected her search to only show living subjects. They had a much shorter list now and began looking at each file.

"Wade Wilson. Long career, appears to be an expert in many forms of combat." Dr. Akagi suggested, bringing up the file.

"Also batshit insane. Next." Misato retorted.

Ritsuko rolled her eyes. Would probably fit right in around here she thought. "Dexter Morgan. Serial killer recruited from prison, yeah no forget I said anything. Next."

"Jules Winnfield… nevermind, says he is quote 'wandering the earth' with no means of contact."

Misato nearly squealed and pressed her finger to the screen "Ooooooh, Ding Chavez, I met him once, he was cute… Oh, back with Rainbow, no way they will let us have him in time. Next."

"The MacManus brothers could work… no, too firearm centric and their fundamentalism may be indicative of instability. Next." Ritsuko sighed as she excluded yet another entry from the list and immediately opened up another one.

"Duke Togo, If even half the stories about him are true he would just as good as a close range instructor as he would be teaching ranged combat. Plus he is Japanese." She said

"Yeah that is the problem, nobody knows what stories about him are true. He is either a super soldier or a hack with good publicity. Next." Misato responded.

"Hey this one already has a NERV file." Misato reached over her friend to tap the down arrow and keep reading. "Rits, your name is on here."

"Hm… Oh I remember him now. It was during early research into biological projection of AT fields. We talked to martial artists with confirmed incidents of paranormal activity surrounding their abilities because we suspected a connection with field generation. There was something there, but it did not match up with the data we had from impact, so we did not continue. We were actually interested in his teacher, but I guess he had died some time before." Dr. Akagi began chewing on a pen as she pushed her swivel chair away from the console. "I think I still have my notes, give me a sec."

Misato kept reading while her friend looked. "Rits, this guy is amazing. Looks like some black op had him running around killing scumbags left and right for, wow, nearly 40 years. Only stopped when the op was ended after impact. Most recent update says his teacher died shortly before impact and he had a student with him, child prodigy. Oh, that was you who wrote that."

"Yeah, I remember. Just found my notes." Ritsuko slammed the metal file cabinet shut with her foot as she rolled back over to Misato with sheaf of handwritten notes paper-clipped together. "He was looking damn good last time I saw him, given he claimed to be pushing 70. Also had a student of his own, kid, looked to be about 14."

The doctor pulled a picture from her notes. It showed a shirtless man with dark hair, though Misato could see some grey in it. His body looked… powerful. Not like a body builder was muscular, more like sumo wrestlers when they lose all the fat. Muscles like they were carved out of marble, incredibly strong but still shaped like a person should be. It reminded Misato of some of the special operations guys she had known (and dated). That body was a weapon better than anything money could buy, and the brain at the top was usually pretty sharp too.

"Hey Ritsuko…" Misato said as she continued reading.

"Yeah?" Ritsuko said, looking up from her notes, pen still hanging from her mouth.

"If he was working for some UN black op, why does he already have the same NERV security clearance as me?"

"Hm, let me see…" Dr. Akagi took over the console again. "Oh I see it, the organization running the op, or what remained of it anyway, was integrated into GEHERN and so into NERV during the transition. Looks like he was never actually let go from the first one, CURE, so he is still technically an employee, albeit inactive."

They spent several more minutes reading about the man. As they reached the bottom and found current contact information, Misato smiled.

"Rits, I think we've found our man…" Misato stared down at the picture.

3 days later…

The commander, vice-commander, and head of operations of NERV stood on the landing pad as the VTOL approached. Onboard was NERV's close combat instructor and his apprentice. Gendo and Fuyutsuki wore their standard suits while Captain Katsuragi wore her tan military uniform with the pillbox style female officer's cover.

They had agreed to come on short notice and for a quite reasonable fee Gendo thought. They had forwarded a rather curious list of supplies to have ready for them, none of which were all that difficult to procure but Gendo had not the faintest idea what they would be used for in concert. They had also demanded room for a dojo, but the facilities of the geofront had more space than they really knew what to do with anyway so Gendo found it reasonable.

The VTOL touched down and as the engines slowed to a stop the hatch opened and a man who looked to be in middle age, tanned with salt and pepper hair, wearing dark slacks and a black leather jacket with a white t-shirt beneath stepped out, followed by a younger man, barely more than a boy. The younger one wore a blood red felt jacket buttoned up to his neck and dark pants, and had pale blond hair. Misato thought he looked Russian as the pair approached.

Gendo stepped forward and extended his hand. "Remo Williams, welcome to NERV."

End

Yeah I don't have anything particularly clever to say about this, other than I hope I struck a balance between build up and reveal. Granted its not a particularly well known franchise with tons of books and one cult movie from the 80's.


	10. Chapter 10

If you are not familiar with the Destroyer series of novels, I highly recommend them if you have thick enough skin to deal with the social commentary. Which takes the form of gross misogyny, racism, etc. There were written beginning in the 60's and are contemporary to the older James Bond and Jason Bourne books. They are available on Amazon or there are a couple torrents of the series out there. There is also a movie of okay quality, Remo Willims: The Legend Begins. If you just want a quick introduction, the TV tropes page will give you enough to get Remo for the most part.

If you want the locations I found them online, PM me.

Just to make it clear, I am trying to write Remo true to the books, including his faults. His apprentice has taken on some of those without the wisdom to offset it.

Chapter 10

Gendo stepped forward and extended his hand. "Remo Williams, welcome to NERV."

It was a very American gesture, none of the bowing and honorifics typical of these things in Japan. Gendo had approved the man as soon as his name came across his desk, familiar with his work for CURE. These sorts of men were necessary in the world they lived and Gendo respected those who could do what needed to be done

The elder man in the leather jacket took Gendo's hand and they shook. He was taller than the commander, but not extremely so. He had a straight nose with high cheekbones and full hair starting just forward of his ears. He looked to be just on the outside of middle age, with deepening lines on his face and more grey than brown in his hair. Everyone there was aware however that Remo was the eldest present, at 76 senior to the Vice Commander by 16 years.

"Commander Ikari I presume, pleased to finally meet you."

Gendo gestured to the Vice Commander and the Captain. "Mr. Williams, allow me to introduce Vice Commander Fuyutsuki Kozo and Operations Commander Captain Katsuragi Misato. You will be working with them, as well as Dr. Akagi with whom you are already familiar, during your time here."

Remo shook hands with both then pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the young man unloading two large duffle bags from the VTOL. "That's Vitali, my lazy apprentice."

"Says the guy not carrying his own dang bag!" The young man yelled in reply, approaching with a bag over each shoulder. He didn't sound Russian, or even eastern European Misato thought. If anything, he sounded American like Remo. His hair was longer, but only down to his chin and hung down straight with roughly cut ends. He was skinny in that way that young soldiers are, all lean muscle. Actually quite handsome, but he walked like a thug thought Misato.

"Vitali, these are our hosts: Commander Ikari, Vice Commander Fuyutsuki, and Captain Katsuragi." Remo gestured to each in turn and Vitali nodded to both of the men the turned to Misato.

"How you doin' babe?" Vitali said to the captain with a smile.

Misato's face screwed up in a grimace. "Perhaps it was not explained to you Vitali-san, but NERV is a paramilitary organization. I would prefer that you address me as Captain Katsuragi or Ma'am."

"And I'd prefer to call ya babe… babe." Vitali's swagger was interrupted by a slap upset the head from his master that sent him to the ground headfirst.

"I apologize for my rude student, we have spent the last several years in much less… civilized parts of the world and…" Remo said then paused as Vitali began to get up. Remo hooked the toe of his shoe behind the young man's knee and pulled his leg out from under him, sending him back to the deck with one smooth motion.

"As I was saying, and I have been neglectful in teaching Vitali the finer points of manners. He is very sorry as well, aren't ya Vitali?"

"Uuugh, Yes Ssem, very sorry" Vitali said as he picked himself up again and shouldered the bags.

Neither Gendo nor Kozo said anything during the exchange, but both were ready to move proceedings on.

"Mr. Williams, I suspect you'd like to meet the pilots right away." Gendo said and motioned to a waiting buggy. The carts were open topped and used for moving people and equipment around where one of the electric cars would be inappropriate. It was electric, but that gave it the enormous torque to move aircraft and munitions about the airfield.

A short while later…

Shinji and Rei were sitting in two of a long row of folding chairs set up along the wall of the large storage room that had been converted to a training area. Three large straw mats spanned the length of the room and most of its width. In the thin strip not occupied by the mats were chairs, storage crates, some tables and a water cooler. The door was on one 'short' side of the rectangular room.

Rei was free of bandages, the first time Shinji had seen her so and he had caught himself staring, though if Rei minded she did not react. Shinji wore bandages around his forearms and hands, and even more around his chest beneath his shirt. He had suffered mild sympathetic burns from the battle, but Dr. Akagi had confirmed after several tests what the weird nurse had told him. There was nerve damage over most of his torso and arms. He had only very basic sensation in the affected areas and fine movement was something he would have to work on. He had tried writing as part of one test and could barely make the characters for his own name.

His first night home he hadn't noticed he cut himself making dinner until he saw the blood. The positive was he was able to teach Misato some correct knifework, so she could help with dinner now.

When the door opened, both pilots stood as the commanders and Misato entered, followed by their new instructors. They were introduced, and both children bowed.

"Alright then, let me have a look at ya." Remo said and approached Shinji first. "Looks like you took a few good ones out there Shinji. You don't mind if I just call you Shinji, do you?"

"Yes-Uh I mean no, sensei. Its okay." Shinji responded. He kind of liked Remo already, despite just meeting him. He didn't know what he had expected, but he surprised by how he spoke to him and how he carried himself. He was proud, but not arrogant.

"Good. So you are the one who went out against the first two, right? I read about what happened. I think you did alright under the circumstances." Remo was gentle when he picked up Shinji's arms, turning them a little, looking at his muscles. "Been in many fights?"

"No, well, um, on the receiving end I guess, if that counts?" Shinji replied. Remo let his arms go and laughed.

"Yeah, well that's not going to be a problem for you anymore." The man turned to the adults. "What's the outlook on his injuries? Is he clear for heavy activity?"

"Yes Williams-Sensei, his surface burns are almost totally healed and while he suffered some loss of fine motor skills, his gross motor movement is unaffected and he should regain any lost ability with physical therapy." Misato reported.

"Good, and just Remo is fine, Ma'am." Remo said then proceeded to Rei after patting Shinji on the shoulder. He looked down at the blue haired girl, then bent down and looked into her eyes, his face mere inches from hers. Rei stared back, tilting her head after several minutes.

"Is something the matter Remo-sensei?" The girl asked.

"Your name is Rei, correct?" Remo asked. Of course he knew her name, but that wasn't the point.

"Yes Remo-sensei." She replied, and Remo watched how her face moved, the little muscles around the eyes, her jaw, and her lips as she spoke. Remo straightened up and turned to the adults.

"Alright, who wants to explain to me why this little girl is so doped up?" He asked, locking eyes with the commanders and the captain in turn.

Gendo stepped forward and answered. "Mr. Williams, Rei's behavior is the side effect of a hormone imbalance caused by a medical i-"

Remo stepped right up to Gendo, chest nearly touching the man, and cut him off.

"Horseshit." Remo said and it was if the temperature of the room dropped to freezing in that moment. Nobody questioned Gendo Ikari at NERV, it just didn't happen. The man was a king in all but name.

"Mr. Williams, I will not-" Gendo said but was cut off again.

"Look _Commander_…" Remo said, the venom dripping from his voice when he used Gendo's rank and his eyes were locked with Gendo's. "I can deal with the kid having issues, can probably even fix them better than any pill. If you want her to fight then I will make damn sure she can, but I can't do that with her stoned. So don't lie to me. I have been lied to too many times and I am too old to deal with it."

They stood like that for a moment, and Shinji thought of two rams with their horns locked together, neither willing to move first. It was Gendo who looked away, and Misato and Kozo were inwardly shocked while Vitali grinned.

"I am not able to discuss Rei's medical history with you, you would have to speak to her doctor…" Gendo said, But Remo had already turned back to Rei. It was probably the same doctor telling her to take them he thought, so he should just talk to the girl.

"How many pills do you take each day, Rei?" He asked.

"Twenty-four Remo-sensei." She responded.

"Do you know what they do?" Remo continued.

"No Remo-sensei." Rei replied.

"Who told you to take them?"

"Dr. Akagi."

Remo turned back to Gendo. "Well, I will be killing two birds with one stone after we get done here then. Commander Ikari, if you do not mind, I would like to begin immediately."

"As you wish Mr. Williams, speak with Captain Katsuragi if you need anything else." Gendo said with very audible displeasure that clashed with his polite words. "Professor, we have matters to attend to."

With that the commanders left. Remo turned back to the children.

"Now then, yes, my name is Remo Williams, and yes I am your new combat instructor. However that is hardly all of the story." Remo said then took off his jacket, which he handed off to Vitali. Remo strode onto one of the woven straw mats and took a seat near the center.

"Come, come, sit down. You too Captain, come on." He said, and Shinji sat down with his legs crossed like his new sensei. Rei and Misato, in skirts, kneeled, and Vitali took up position flanking his teacher.

"Now, where to begin… I mean I could tell you about me, but really not much to tell, I have been killing bad guys since way before any of you were born. I used to do it to support a stupid little fishing village in Korea, and you know, protect American interests, make the world a better place, all that. Then impact happened, the village is gone, the agency I worked for doesn't exist any more, and so I have just kind of been doin' the whole kill bad guys thing for fun and profit. It was news to me that this place, you know NERV, had in fact absorbed my former employers and so I was technically still an employee, so they asked me to come back and teach you kids how to fight giant monsters trying to wipe out all life on earth. With me so far?"

Shinji was just staring at him in some mix of shock and awe, while Misato was pleased as a peach with her self for finding this man. Rei, though she showed no exterior sign of it, was actually quite pleased with the new instructor. Both children nodded.

"Great. So I am going to be teaching you a very old style of fighting called Sinanju. You probably have not heard of it, neither had I when my teacher sat me down like I am sittin' you down now. Course he also turned off my lungs for a minute to show he wasn't going to take my crap, but that was just his way of doing things. Anyway, the way he explained it to me was all the ways of fighting in the whole wide world are shadows, and sinanju is the sun. It is the origin, it is superior, and until we all met just now, the whole of it never left a master and an apprentice. The master died, the apprentice took his place and took an apprentice of his own. However, the current situation being what it is, when asked to come teach you kids how to fight, I felt it was time to abandon that tradition. I am also going to ignore the one about not training women, because I am not really fond of the idea of having one kid and one giant robot protecting the whole planet with no back up, despite having been in that position myself a few dozen times. So, any questions?"

Misato was reconsidering her feelings on the situation, as she seemed to have stepped into a bad martial arts movie. Shinji was awestruck, and Rei… well somewhere inside that doped up little mind, under all the terrible secrets and horrible memories, Ayanami Rei was happy.

Remo Williams sat facing his newest students, his apprentice Vitali at his side. Captain Katsuragi was present as well, but she was not in Remo's thoughts. He considered the boy and the girl in front of him.

The boy, small and dark, had a fire in him. Remo had seen video of both battles, and the brutality, the just raw savagery of it spoke of something driving the boy. Even if he was the boss's son, Remo did not think that was the real motivation, there was something else there stoking that fire. He didn't just hate daddy, the way he fought the angels was like he hated those things' very existence.

The girl though, now she was going to be a mystery, at least until whatever they had in her to dumb her down was gone. Her hair and eyes were physically remarkable, but it took more than albinism to get Remo's attention. Remo had learned long ago that the little things in a person's behavior could tell you everything about them. How they walked, how they talked, how they looked around a room, it all revealed details. This girl though, there was nothing but the dullness of her movement that told him something was something slowing her down. She had a weird speech pattern, but it only made Remo think of someone who learned a second language from too few teachers. Like she was imitating one person, then another, but had never developed a speaking style of her own.

"… So, any questions?" Remo said as he finished his very much condensed explanation of who he was and his purpose at NERV. The blue haired girl raised her hand.

"Yes Rei?"

"What should we wear during instruction? School uniforms are not appropriate for intense physical activity." Rei asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry I should have given you these before." Misato said as she rose to her feet and walked over to the stack of storage crates. She dug through one than another before she found what she was looking for. She lifted two large packages wrapped in brown paper and gives them to the pilots

"Here ya go kids. Remo-sensei, you didn't specify a color, so I hope white is okay." Misato says as the children unwrap the packages, both containing white karategi. The NERV fig leaf had been printed in red on the left breast of each uniform.

"You also didn't specify a style, so supply division got these. I guess they are cheaper and since we don't know how long this is going to last, they figure we will have to buy more as they wear out or the kids grow.

"One is as good as another Captain, thank you. Normally I wouldn't even bother with it, but if we are going to be doing this all day, every day they may as well only stink up one set of clothes." Remo said as he got up. "No need to get changed today kiddos, I have need to go have a talk with the good Dr. Akagi. Vitali, get them started on breathing properly."

"Yes Ssem." The young blond said and moved himself over to the pilots.

"Captain Katsuragi, would you mind accompanying me, I'm afraid of I don't know my way around yet."

"Of course Remo-sensei."

"Please, just Remo."

Vitali watched them leave then turned back to the pilots. He had moved so they were sitting in a tight circle.

"So yeah, I'm Vitali. I am Master Remo's apprentice, which means I am probably gonna be teaching you most of the basic stuff. I see why we gotta train you, I am cool with that, but to be honest I have my reservations about training a girl. No offense, I just figure if it hasn't been done for a few thousand years, there is probably a reason." Vitali said, looking at Rei.

"Long as you can keep up though, its worth a shot. You're probably gonna want to sit like me though. Don't worry, we ain't gonna look up your skirt." He continued. Rei moved to sit with her legs crossed like Vitali and Shinji, whose face had taken on color.

"Hehe, calm down kid, it was a joke. Alright, so despite the fact you have been doing it for the past, what about 14 years, you are breathing wrong. So lets start by learning how to do it right. Okay now draw it in with your chest, not your stomach…yeah like that. Okay now pull it down, all the way…"

Meanwhile, Remo Williams and Misato Katsuragi were in an elevator, heading to the lower levels where Ritsuko Akagi's lab was. Misato was leaning against side of the car, arms crossed across her chest and her head down.

"Something has your panties in a twist Captain. Care to share or you want me to start guessing?"

Misato breathed a sharp breath out through her nose and looked at the man. She was concerned for the welfare of the children, it was her job to be in her mind. She also was not too happy about being asked about her panties after the apprentice had called her babe.

"Mr. Williams, Remo, whatever, I am the head of all combat operations for this facility and that includes making sure the pilots are taken care of. Do you expect them to forego school and spend all day here, with you?"

"Yes Captain, given the circumstances, I do."

"And that's my concern. They are children, they are entitled to an education and as much of a normal life as we can give them."

"Captain, right now they are the only thing standing between humanity and the big giant monsters. They can go back to school when that is done."

"And what if it doesn't end? What if they just keep coming and this war lasts until Twenty One Fourteen?"

"Then they won't need whatever they were supposed to learn. They just need what I have to teach them."

Misato let out an exasperated growl and slammed the stop button with a closed fist. Remo was actually kind of impressed with how fast she was in his face, wagging her finger under his nose.

"You look here mister! Those kids have never had a normal life. They have been manipulated and abused because my boss, Shinji's _father_, thought making psychopaths was the way to saving humanity. It happened, I can't go back and change it, but I will be damned if I don't give them something normal in all this bullshit they shouldn't even have to deal with! I will not take their humanity from them to save us!"

"Fine. I get them for the first week solid, after that I get them after school every day and all day on the weekend until I am satisfied anything less will suffice. If there is a way for them to practice in the robots, I will supervise sessions during their time with me. Does that work for you, ma'am?"

Misato breathed through her nose, her face still grimaced, before stepping back and restarting the elevator.

"I'll take that as a yes then, captain."

The pair arrived at Dr. Akagi's workspace a few minutes later. Misato immediately sensed something off about the usually chaotic room. It was actually clean and did not stink of cigarette smoke for one. When she saw her longtime friend leave her desk though all intuition and guessing went out the window. Dr. Ritsuko Akagi's was wearing a white halter blouse with a neckline ending just below where any useful bra would have been, and a dark blue skirt that Misato would generously describe at 'unprofessional'. She wore dark stockings as usual and Misato was quite sure those shoes had never seen the office before.

"Mr. Williams, so lovely to see you again." Dr. Akagi said as she greeted Remo, shaking his hand in both of her own.

"Please Doctor, just Remo is fine."

"Well, only if you call me Ritsuko." The girlish lilt in her voice made Misato feel like gagging.

"Well, Ritsuko, I have just come from meeting the pilots, or what did you call them in your reports again?"

"The first and third child. The girl is the first, Shinji is the third."

"I see, you will excuse me if I stick to calling them pilots then. I think we can all agree this is not a job for children. Before we proceed I actually need to discuss Miss Ayanami with you."

"Oh, why would you need to do that, we have so much else to talk about."

"Of course Doctor, but we will need to discuss it as soon as possible. Now the information you forwarded briefly explained how the robots-"

"Evangelion."

"S'cuse me?"

"The evangelions aren't robots in the conventional sense. They are-"

Remo cut her off again. "My apologies Ritsuko, I will try to remember it in the future. Now, they have muscles and nervous systems that work like ours, right?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"So if the pilots developed muscle memory, could the evangelions?"

"Hmmm, I suppose, but the muscles of the units would have to experience the same impulses as the pilots for that to occur. If you are suggesting we have the pilots practice in the units, my concern is upkeep and maintenance on the evangelions would cause too much downtime."

"Not to mention the space requirements. Would it be possible to artificially stimulate the muscles with the units inactive? Say if we were to map the pilots nerve impulses then send them through the machines?"

"Yes… Yes I think that could work, but what is your goal?"

"To carry over the benefits on reaction speed and strength to the evangelions. You are the expert of course but without a trained body to carry them out, the lessons I impart will be far less valuable in the field."

"Of course, of course…" Ritsuko said, scribbling furiously on a note pad. "I will look into it. Here, take these."

Dr. Akagi took two thick folders from her desk and held them out for Remo. "Due to the damage both units have incurred, we will be integrating this more durable equipment into the reconstruction. These are plans for the F-type concept. It provides more armor and will allow us to store more energy on the unit. Please take a look and tell us if there are any changes you want to make them more effective in melee. You too if you would Misato, I think your input would be valuable. Give them knuckles or something I suppose…" Ritsuko Akagi trailed off, still sketching writing with abandon on the pad in front of her.

"Dr. Akagi, there was also the matter of Rei, the first child." Remo said and Misato could clearly see her friend's shoulders slump at the mention of the blue haired girl.

"Very well, I assume this is regarding her condition." Dr. Akagi said, very much lacking in her former enthusiasm, as she stood and opened a file cabinet beside her desk.

"It is." Remo replied, and Dr. Akagi withdrew a thick black file folder from the metal cabinet that she then gave to Remo.

"The first child suffered from an extremely severe hormone imbalance at the onset of puberty. This may be linked to a genetic flaw related to her albinism, but we have not confirmed that. The problem was corrected by removing her ova and continuing drug therapy."

"Ah yes the drugs." Remo said, flipping through the file. "Lets see, here we are… Alpha blockers, benzodiazepines of various stripes, dopamine inhibitors…"

"Yes Mr. Williams, you can read my notes, but I assure you that-"

"That these are all psychoactive medications. Depressants and tranquilizers if memory serves. While I will admit my knowledge of anatomy is perhaps somewhat limited, I do not believe your purpose in their prescription was to aid in correction of a hormone issue, was it Dr. Akagi?" Remo flipped the folder shut and pressed it into Ritsuko's hands. He kept pressing it towards her and took a step forwards, his hand over the folder against her chest and her back against the cold metal cabinets. His head beside hers, she felt his hot breath pass her ear as he spoke.

"Before you answer, know that more frigid broads than you have tried lying to me and it didn't work out very well for them."

Misato had instinctively moved her hand to her gun, in its patent leather holster on her officer's uniform, as Remo had approached her friend aggressively. She was prevented from acting further by her own inner conflict about the conversation. She knew nothing about medicines past a working knowledge of what to take for a headache (or to ease a hangover). It was the way he spoke when he questioned the doctor that made her hesitate.

What if it is all part of that damn program she thought. What were they doing to these kids? No, what were _we_ doing to them she mentally corrected herself. She was part of this and that tore her up inside. She had only known Shinji a few weeks but the boy had awoken the need to nurture within her. As his commanding officer she felt the weight of responsibility for how fucked up he was.

Dr. Akagi nearly growled as she screwed up her face, any happiness at the man's presence gone.

"I will not stand here and be-" She stopped as she looked into Remo's eyes. Before his gaze she felt naked and not in a way she at all enjoyed. It felt like no matter how she tried to hide or cover herself, he saw everything. She looked down, away from his piercing gaze, and found herself shaking. Ritsuko slammed the file down on her desk and held onto the edge to stop her hand from betraying her further.

"I directed the first child to take those medications as part of the long running conditioning program she has been raised through. I cannot predict her behavior should they be withdrawn."

"Have they made her a better pilot?"

"We don't know, she hasn't had a successful activation test in unit 00, and the tests we conducted in unit 01 did not result in a high enough synch ratio to move the unit."

"Thank you for your cooperation Doctor, I think I understand the situation a little better now. Being that she is unable to turn the robot on, if I understood correctly, in her current state and is also totally incapable of learning what I have been directed to teach her in that state, I do not see the harm in trying this my way."

"Fine!" She spat out. "But the commander will hear of this."

"I suspect he already has."

"Out!" She shrieked. As Remo turned to leave Ritsuko turned to Misato. "And you! Standing there and gobbering like an idiot while that pig practically assaulted me, out!

A few minutes later, Misato and Remo waited in the corridor for an elevator to reach them.

"Was that necessary? You have to work with her. I have to work with her."

"Of course it was. Your commander sought to use her as a way to control me. It was a rather clumsy attempt, so much so I doubt even Vitali would have been ensnared. She is just angry cause it didn't work."

"Oh yeah, and what makes you think I don't have the same mission, Mr. Williams?"

Remo shook his head and chuckled to himself. "Because you hate that uniform Captain Katsuragi, and no woman tries to looks good in something she hates. Instead she makes it clear to the world with every move that she hates it." It made Misato smile as the elevator announced its presence before opening. It was true she did hate this uniform.

"Well then Remo, back to the kids?"

"No, Vitali will still teaching them how to breathe at this point. If it's okay, I want to see the evangelions." He responded and Misato pressed the correct button. "Don't you people get tired of that word, its not Japanese, it can't be easy to say."

"We call them Eva."

"Eva, huh… sounds like a pretty woman, not a war machine."

An elevator ride and half-a-mile of hallway later they stood in front of the damaged unit 01, wrapped in bandages but for its toothy mouth and one undamaged eye. They stood in darkness in front of the brightly lit repair bay, the giant's head directly in front of them.

"Eva, you are one ugly bitch."

"Yeah, I thought they were freaky in the armor but the first time I saw one like this…" Misato shivered and made a disgusted sound. She knew it was inactive, but it still felt like the giant was examining them. Like a kid looked at bugs.

Remo flipped open the folder on the f-type equipment and started reading, holding up pictures alongside the body suspended in front of him. "So the armor is like its skin?"

"No it has skin of its own, we just didn't know what we would be facing, thus the light armor. They consume so much energy that we try and keep them on external power when they are active. They only have five minutes of power at low activity in onboard storage. But if we added more batteries, it adds weight, power consumption goes up, it is a losing battle."

"What about the fins in these pictures, the ones on the shoulders? Is it like an anti-static thing moving something big through the air, are they weapons, what?"

"We call them pylons. They can hold weapons, the two evas we have here have a knife in each one. The production models have ordinance launchers in one and a knife in the other. The main reason for the pylons is transport though. Rather than launching them from a central point and walking them into position, we have an underground electric railway network that covers the area.

"Makes sense with limited onboard power and extension cords. So this new armor will have more onboard power capacity?"

"Yeah, not a lot, but more. We were hoping you might have some ideas to make the Evas better in hand-to-hand combat during the rebuild."

"Yeah I think I got a few."

End

So this is going to be the more regular schedule, about a chapter a week. As always, please read and review, I really appreciate it. Especially the criticism, I know I need to get better. Look forward to minor rewrites of some earlier chapters as part of the next update. That Gendo/firing squad bit is embarrassing.

Oh and if this thing ever ends up on TV tropes as a rec or heaven forbid its own page, I will be horribly embarrassed and beside totally beside myself in glee. Go show the Destroyer series page some love it needs it.


	11. Chapter 11

Hawking it again, if you have never read any of the Destroyer books you really should. The first one is available free on amazon and is called Created, The Destroyer. Speaking of which, this obviously breaks from the ongoing Destroyer canon around second impact. I realize that should have put Remo as having kids but for our purposes, he never fathered children.

Warnings this chapter: Nothing too bad but we get a look inside Rei's mind and it is not a pleasant place.

Chapter 11

Back at the NERV dojo, Shinji Ikari was breathing deeply. He thought he had done this before, but had recently been informed that was not the case. What he had thought were deep breathes were in fact only slightly less shallow. Vitali-sensei had said what most of humanity did day-to-day was barely getting by on a tiny portion of their lung capacity.

"That is why when it counts they cannot hold their breath more than a minute or two. The rest of their lungs have grown lazy and don't work when needed." Vitali said as the children continued to breath in slow rhythm. He had turned them to face away from each other so the boy, Shinji, would stop thinking about the girl and concentrate on the exercise. This, to Vitali, was the main issue with training women. He was sure the right girl could do it, but training teenagers side by side was going to lead to something, and whatever it was would be distracting.

They had been doing this for what seemed like forever but had only been about an hour. Shinji thought he could feel the change already. His head felt clearer, and the tingling soreness of his burns bothered him less. Shinji closed his eyes and continued. He drew the air in with his chest and pulled it all the way down to his groin, just like Vitali had taught them. He heard the door slide open and the click of Misato's heels. He wondered how Rei would look in heels. They made girls' legs do amazing things.

As his mind continued to wonder on the subject of the girl behind him, Shinji felt a little tickle on his nose. He opened his eyes to see if something had landed on him and was shocked to find himself face to face with Remo. How had he even gotten there? He hadn't heard him come in or walk up to him or anything. In his surprise, Shinji fell back on the mat with a yelp.

"Looks like you have the breathing down, Vitali is a better teacher than I thought." Remo said as he straightened up.

"You wound me, Ssem." Vitali said with mock offense.

"How did you move like that?!" Shinji asked, eyes still wide as he sat up from the floor.

"Oh you will learn how tomorrow." Remo replied. "But for tonight, I want you both to go home, have a nice meal, and get a good night's sleep. Starting bright and early tomorrow, we will train for the next 7 days and every day after school and on the weekends. We don't know how long we have until the next angel attacks so we need prepare as much as possible."

As the children rose, Remo stood before them with his hands clasped behind his back. "The Evas are being rebuilt. They will be better, faster, stronger, and I will see to it that you two are as well. They call you children, but I call you Night Tigers, students of the most ancient and superior school of combat, Sinanju. I will teach you to hit harder than a cannon, to move faster than bullets, and to disappear in plain sight. Most important of all, I will teach you to take apart any opponent piece by piece, no matter how strong or inhuman. And when the next angel comes, in its dying moments, as your machines stand over its broken body as the last sliver of life leaves, it will know fear."

It was a simple thing to manipulate the voice for maximum impact, Remo thought to himself. The kids were looking at him in stunned awe. At least Shinji was, it was hard to tell with Rei. It may have been a little melodramatic, but they should at least have that. He would have to push weeks of training into days to get them ready. If Captain Katsuragi was right and these two had never truly had happy moments of childhood, it would only make what he had to do easier as he took what childhood they had left away. Remo had always fantasized, in moments of weakness, of having a family, and raising children. Now he would have to take these children and make them among the deadliest killers in the world. He understood Misato's concern for them and hoped in all this terrible business they may find some happiness.

They were snapped out of their stupor, the children from their awe and Remo from his wool gathering, by Misato applauding.

"That was wonderful Remo-sensei!" Misato said. She stepped behind the children and placed a hand on each pilot's shoulder. "How about we all have dinner together? Shinji is a great cook."

"You know Captain Katsuragi, I think we will take you up on that. I had wanted to see the student's quarters anyway. Will the commander be joining us?"

"Oh no, the commander is really busy, So Shinji lives with me."

"I see, and what about Rei's family?"

"I live alone Remo-sensei."

Remo considered several questions to ask but ultimately decided not to ask any of them. Instead he said "Alright then, I would like you to show Vitali your room and surrender all of your medication to him. I have spoken with Dr. Akagi and we have decided you will no longer be taking them. Got that Vitali?"

"Yes Ssem." Vitali turned to Misato and made an over dramatic bow. "Captain, may I please have your address?" Vitali said with courtly manners.

"Of course Vitali-san, since you ask so nicely." Misato replied with a curt bow. She took a NERV business card from her breast pocket and wrote her address on the back then gave it to Vitali. "Rei should be able to get you there."

"Thank you Captain." Vitali said, taking the card in both hands. He was not about to offend the hot officer again. He liked her, she was feisty. And Ssem would hit him again. Mostly because of the latter.

"Very good. So what's for dinner?" Remo said as they began to leave.

"What would you like, Remo-sensei?" Misato said, walking beside him with Vitali behind his master. Shinji and Rei brought up the rear as they left and Shinji swore he saw Rei smile, just for a second before it was gone.

They parted ways after several elevator rides brought them to the surface. It was still early in the afternoon and Vitali accompanied Rei to her apartment. Misato, Remo, and Shinji were soon in the hybrid. Misato drove with Remo in the passenger seat and Shinji sat in the back.

"So Shinji, where did you learn to cook?" Remo asked. It was small talk, but he was still trying to get a feeling for the boy. Remo normally gave people all of 10 seconds before he judged them, but he wanted to give the students more consideration.

"The last family I lived with owned a restaurant, Remo-sensei." Shinji replied, taking his SDAT from his ears.

"Really, what kind of food?"

"HK Chinese, the Chus owned a restaurant there before impact."

"Really? What kind of things do you like to make?"

"Well I can make the fancy stuff, like peking duck, but it is a pain in the ass. I like making fried rice and noodle bowls to eat, but Misato is probably tired of it by now."

"Not at all Shinji!" Misato said then stage whispered to Remo. "Ever since he told me what was in the crap I used to eat I am afraid to go shopping without him."

-meanwhile-

It was the general opinion of NERV staff that Gendo Ikari's office was designed to evoke fear and awe, and not for function. In the mind of Gendo Ikari, they were incorrect. It was perfectly designed for the function of evoking fear and awe in those in front of the desk. The stone floors were unyielding, there were no chairs for guests, and the orientation of the windows meant that visitors were instantly sun-struck during daylight hours. Gendo took all visitors during daylight hours. If someone wished to avoid the commander's gaze and look up or down, they were confronted by the imposing mysto-babble of the kabaalah inlayed in white stone across the floor and ceiling. Gendo had no spiritual affiliation to the symbol, or toanything at all really. To him it was just something to intimidate the peasants he was forced to deal with. Not that some of them were useless of course he thought as Ritsuko Akagi entered the office.

"Dr. Akagi, report."

Ritsuko Akagi stood in front of the large desk that was carved from the same reflectively black stone as the rest of the room, several folders in hand. Though she wore the same ridiculous outfit as earlier, there was none of the energy behind it. Gendo Ikari may know her body, but she was past caring enough to put any effort into it.

"Sir, we have succeeded in removing 99% of the damaged dermis from Unit One. Installation of replacement nerve tissue has also been successful. Unit Zero has been cleared of bakelight, and we have removed all damaged armor segments. We have not found any interior damage at this time, nor any other structural problems that could have impacted the last activation test. We are delaying further repairs on both units until the redesign of the F-type equipment is complete."

"Excellent. The designs have been forwarded to Captain Katsuragi and Mr. Williams then?"

"Yes, Sir."

"And regarding Mr. Williams?"

Dr. Akagi sighed. Admitting failure was one thing, but this felt like she was admitting an inability to attract the opposite sex. "Mr. Williams was not influenced as we had hoped. However I believe he has concluded that compliance was the reason for sedation of the first child."

"Very good. If he is able to help Rei control her impulses, then all the better. If not, we have new data points on her behavior and can adjust treatment accordingly, while Mr. Williams loses face in front of the staff. What progress has been made on the dissection of the 4th angel?"

Ritsuko took several glossy photographs from the folders she held and spread them out on the commander's desk. She pointed to the first, which showed several cranes and helicopters around the corpse of the gigantic worm.

"As soon as Unit One was retrieved, we began the operation to take samples from the angel. While the core was destroyed in the battle, apparently by manual compression by Unit One, the rest of the body remained relatively intact. What core fragments we have recovered reveal nothing of the inner workings and spectral analysis shows nothing but silicone oxide with traces of gold."

"Red glass?"

"Exactly."

"Continue."

Dr. Akagi moved to the second picture, showing a stone mask of a peaceful human face. "This structure was found within the angel, beneath the flesh of the leading edge. It is identical to the structure images show on the exterior of the 3rd angel."

"It appears human, have we had any success finding anything similar in human cultures, maybe some trace these things have been here before?"

"Yes, too much in fact. Simplistic representations of the human face matching these are present in almost all cultures that create images in worked stone. Personally, I don't think it is evidence of influence. I think it is just a generic representation. I would go so far as to say it might not even represent a human." The commander had to admit the doctor made a valid point. While it was clearly a face, the masks as they had dubbed them, were basically ovals with carvings that appeared to represent closed eyes and lips with no expression.

"Your theory has merit. Continue to investigate future angels for similar structures, but do not devote any more resources at this time. Have we found anything else of interest within the corpse?"

Ritsuko pointed to the final picture of the set, showing a lake of pink sludge in the charred remains of the battlefield.

"The angel began to disintegrate within 72 hours. From what we were able to tell, the tissue was consistent with terrestrial flatworm biology, though made up of several proteins and amino acids which we have no evidence to show have occurred on earth previously. We were able to do some preliminary analysis on the limbs and found some tissues that we believe to be conditional superconductors. The leading theory right now is that in the presence of AT field would reduce resistance in the materiel to zero."

"Interesting, can we replicate it?"

"I have some techs working on it, if so it could be valuable if applied to the evas."

"Keep me updated. Was there anything else Doctor?"

"No Commander."

"Very well, thank you for your report."

-At the Katsuragi/Ikari apartment some time later-

"You have a pet penguin?"

"Wark!"

"We think of him as more of a room mate."

"I see."

Remo Williams sat at the kitchen table while his hosts prepared dinner. He was watching a penguin watching soap operas. Apparently this was normal as both of the other residents were normally still at NERV at this time. Something bothered him about the bird. It was the way it sat, rocking back and forth and humming to itself while it watched TV. Remo hadn't thought birds could hum, but there it was. Of course he had not known birds to watch TV either. Maybe that is what they did when it rained.

"Hey Shinji, I want to look at your room, see how you live. Which one is it?"

"Oh, um, hallway on your right, door on the left."

"Not going to find anything that shouldn't be there, right? Don't worry about the porn, I don't care."

Shinji blushed deeply and nearly "Wha-what? No Sensei, I don't have anything like that. Just clothes and school stuff really."

In fact, Remo was pleasantly surprised, that was all he found. A thin mattress on the floor as was the local fashion, a chest of drawers with some clothes in it, schoolwork, and a personal tape player with a small collection of tapes. They reminded Remo of the micro cassettes CURE used for transmitting data at one point before optical drives came about.

Remo began to look through Shinji's schoolwork and the weird brief case they made kids carry here. He found the boy was really not much of student, seemingly every paper covered in red corrective marks. Under the papers in the brief case he found a book and was impressed at least with the kid's taste. He had read the Mahabharata when he first found out a hindu god was periodically hijacking his body. This edition was in Japanese, which Remo would be the first to admit was not his strongest written language, but he felt a chill down his back as he flipped it open to the sole marked page. There was a passage, messily circled in pen.

"I am all-powerful time which destroys all things…" Remo quietly read. It was what Oppenheimer had misquoted when he talked about seeing the first atomic bomb. Scratched out in barely readable characters below it were words Remo knew too well.

I am created.

Once he read those words, Remo slammed the book shut between his hands, and then opened it again, read the scrawled characters once more, and shut it.

"What the fuck…" He said to the empty room. It had been 15 years since he last heard those words. As the years went on, he had begun remembering the lapses. When he 'died' and the other presence took over.

He had been called the destroyer from the beginning, the killing arm of an organization that did not exist. His mission had always been to kill those who could not be touched by the law, to end problems by bringing swift death to all involved. He did not remember who first called him the destroyer though. It might have been Smith, or Chuin, or maybe just some mook telling ghost stories in an alley about how his boss and his boss's boss had been found with every bone in their body smashed to dust.

Decades of memories came flooding back before Remo's eyes, and in the worst times there was always those words.

_I am created, Shiva, the destroyer, the earth-shatterer, the dead Night Tiger made whole by the art of Sinanju._

Every time he was defeated, and felt the life drain from his body, it had come. Like a star within his chest he would feel the heat, and then the other would take over. A god dedicated to the destruction of all the wickedness it could find in the world. The places Remo Williams traveled never lacked for wickedness, and the god had never wanted for evil to cleanse.

He considered calling for Shinji and talking to the boy about it, but as the doorbell rang he was saved the decision. That would be Vitali with the girl. Remo would watch the boy closely; get more data on his two battles so far. If he could train the boy, maybe he wouldn't have to worry about Shiva coming out again.

Remo opened the door back into the apartment only for Vitali to walk into him, pushing him back into Shinji's room.

"We need to talk Ssem." Vitali said as they reentered the room.

"Well hello to you too Vitali, how was Rei's?" Remo snarked as the younger man slammed the door shut behind them.

"These…" Vitali held up a plastic grocery bag full of orange prescription bottles. "… Were the least disturbing thing about that place."

Remo signed and took a seat on the floor, legs crossed. He gestured for Vitali to do the same. "Alright then, lets hear the whole of it."

"Okay, so first of all, I don't know how a brand new city like this has a neighborhood that bad already. Any good ghetto has some character behind it, ya'know? Some story. So I am looking around, tryin' to scare off trouble before it starts, but ya know what? Every mook and slimeball I saw did everything they could to get away from her. Not only that, but so did all the kids, all the dogs and cats, even the rats wouldn't come within 10 yards of her."

"You sure that wasn't just your natural charm?"

"No way, they weren't looking at me, they were lookin' at her."

"Alright, so you get to her place…"

"Yeah yeah I am getting there. So we get to the building, place is a dump. She lives on the 5th floor, but elevator's broke. Trash and who knows what else is piled in the stairs. We get up to her place, she just opens the door, turns out the lock is broke. So we go inside… You remember those slums in Rio, what did they call'em, the _favelas_?"

"I quite distinctly remember us agreeing to never speak of them again."

"Hey just give me a chance, you remember them?"

"Yes I remember them, get to the point."

"I would rather spend another week in that shit hole then spend the night in that place. Studio apartment, all concrete. Bed, desk, drawers, all steel and plywood, like a hospital, 'cept its all covered in that grime you get when filth gets covered in more filth."

"Hmmm, alright, what does she eat?"

"Instant poison for the most part, did notice no meat though."

"Let me guess, shes so skinny because she doesn't eat enough?"

"Yep, when I asked she said she ate one meal a day at home and got lunch at school."

"Great. Any other revalations?"

"Yeah, she is goddamn creepy."

"Is that your professional opinion Dr. Genomevich?"

"Very funny, hey ask about hyper…hyper… when someone feels like they need to write without a reason."

"Hypergraphia."

"Yeah that, ask if she ever did that next time you talk to the doc. Y'know how it was all concrete? Well there were a bunch of patches that were discolored, looked like they had had the top layer ground off. I would bet ya it was something she wasn't supposed to be writing."

"I will look into it, anything else?"

"Besides that place needing a few coats of bleach to make it liveable? Naw that's all I got, what about the boy?"

"His personality is interesting, but his material effects say very little. By the state of the place, I would say he likes things to be clean to create order. He cooks, pretty good by what the captain says but we will find out." Remo held up the cheaply bound book. "And we may have a little more trouble than we bargained for. These angels though? They aren't going to know what hit them."

When Remo showed Vitali what he had found, he made sure to cherish the experience of seeing the little punk's jaw hit the floor. 10 years now they had lived side-by-side, master and student. Remo knew how Chuin felt putting up with his wiseass all those years now. It felt good to get one back.

Dinner was called and nobody was disappointed with Shinji's cooking. While Vitali could still eat pretty much whatever he wanted, Remo was not so fortunate. 50 years of constant training had left his body very selective about what it would accept. Red meat was out, no processed food, and everything else had to be fresh.

Remo was on his 3rd helping of chicken fried rice when he began to consider moving in. Good food he could actually eat, and the view was not bad either he thought as he looked at the captain. She was eating like a soldier, shoveling it in with the plate up to her mouth, as was Vitali. Rei was taking small bites and holding it in her mouth for while, chewing slowly. Shinji ate in patterns, one bite of each item then a drink of water.

While Misato was not in her "normal" at home attire, the tight black top and tight denim jeans she wore were more than enough to get the attention of the instructors. She didn't consider it the same as what Ritsuko had tried to do. She wasn't trying to _control_ them and she wasn't dressed like a skank at work. Attraction had its advantages though. These men would be influencing Shinji, changing him. Her greatest fear in making the suggestion to bring them in had been for Shinji. She was afraid they would change him, that they would take away the nice boy under all that pain and turn him into a weapon. If flirting meant they would tell her more, it was worth it to protect Shinji.

"So Shinji, when you worked in the restaurant, did you enjoy it?"

"Not at first, washing dishes was no fun. After a while though, I learned one thing and then another, and once I knew every job, I just kinda started to run it. I liked it when I could get everything moving together just right…" Shinji said with a smile, then frowned. "Damn chinks still didn't pay me though."

"SHINJI!" Misato yelled and rose from her seat. "This has-" Misato stopped herself, remembering the others present. It would be humiliating to do this in front of them. Her room was a mess, his room everyone would still hear, same with the balcony. "Outside young man, now!" She said and pointed to the front door.

"But Misato!"

"Now!"

Misato marched Shinji out into the hall. She was tired of this. Every day it seemed like another new and horrible slur came out of his mouth. She prepared herself to give the kid a good dressing down, worthy of a captain of the JSSDF. This shit stopped here and now.

As they stepped into the twilight of the open hallway and the door slid shut behind them, Misato turned to face Shinji. "Shinji…"

"Yeah yeah I know, no more funny names for foreigners."

"Shinji, my mom was Chinese."

"What!? R-really?"

"No, not really, but what if she was? You had a bad experience I get it. You have heard people say these words and thought it was okay. It happens and I am not blaming you for knowing them. But you need to think for a second before you speak. You need to think of the people around you and how you might hurt their feelings with what you say."

"Nip."

"Shinji!"

"Wokou. Riben Gou, fei wu. Recognize those ones? They are Chinese, and for two years, I didn't have a name, all those are what they called me. Don't talk to me about hurt feelings. I don't care about theirs because they don't care about mine!"

The door slid open again and Remo stepped out into the hallway between the fighting roommates.

"You know, my late master hated the Chinese. Well he hated everyone, but especially the Chinese. They stiffed his great great great grandfather for a job. Couldn't keep his damn mouth shut and China and America nearly went to war because of it." He turned to Shinji and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Not sure where I was going with that, the point is you can have your opinions, but voicing them needlessly only leads to problems. Clean up your mouth."

"I…y-yes Remo-sensei." Shinji replied and bowed.

"Good, head back in, I need to speak with Captain Katsuragi for a moment." Shinji left and as soon as the door slid shut, that entire officer training unbraided before Remo's assault.

"Captain, I get that you are his guardian. I get that you want to do right by him, give him that childhood he didn't have, raise him right and all that. I get it, but what are you doing to my student? He was on a confidence high, he had impressed himself by impressing the people around him. He had made a meal for the girl he stares at and she liked it. He had built himself up so high and then you smack him down hard. Now he is back to square one, feeling like nobody appreciates him and nobody cares. So will you please try and help him be a better person with a little more fucking tact from now on?" Remo had stepped forward as he spoke and he was pushed up against Misato with her behind pressed against the railing as he finally stopped.

"Y-yes, of course, I didn't realize. I am trying, this is all so new though." Misato said. She was more flustered by this guy than she should be she thought. She was a grown woman who shouldn't be so nervous because a tall, dark, handsome man had her pinned like that. His hot breath filling her…. Dammit, guess not she thought as he stepped back.

"Yeah well we all start somewhere." Remo said as he turned to open the door. "And will you please put some decent clothes on when you have guests over? I don't know why everyone thinks all it takes is a nice chest to manipulate me."

"But I wasn't-"

"Horseshit." He cuts her off in English before stepping back inside. Misato followed and dinner continued in awkward fashion for a few moments.

Remo broke the silence. "So kids, lets talk about how this will go tomorrow. Vitali tells me your apartment is in pretty sad shape Rei, so if you don't mind I would like you to sleep here tonight. Is that alright?"

"So long as I am welcome."

"Of course you are Rei."

"Thank you captain. As I said before, we are going to be working together for the first week without breaks. Sleeping arrangements will be made and we will bring in food for you. It is not the best circumstance, but I have been told we do not know when the next battle will be. That being the case I want to get you both in fighting shape as soon as possible. Fortunately, ours is a very effective art, so as long as we can give you solid basics, I believe even after only a week you will be much more effective. So tomorrow morning, you are both going to get up bright and early and Captain Katsuragi will bring you down to us to begin. Any questions? No, good."

As Remo went back for a 4th helping, Vitali began to ask Shinji about his cooking and it was revealed the younger man did most of it for the pair. Conversation continued and the awkwardness forgotten. As dinner was finished and the instructor's prepared to leave, Vitali promised Shinji he would make their next meal to return the favor.

An extra futon was brought out for Rei to sleep in the living room. After discovering Rei preferred to sleep in the nude, Misato furnished her with an oversized t-shirt to wear for the night.

-Later that night-

Rei lay under a heavy comforter in the cool air of the living room, staring at the ceiling. She could not sleep. She had now missed 2 doses of medication. It felt _good_.

At dinner, she had actually tasted food for the first time in years. Oh she had experienced a sensation from that trash she had eaten to fuel her body, but this was different. It wasn't just fuel anymore, it was an experience as she smelled, then tasted it, then felt the warmth travel through her body as she consumed it. It had been even longer since she had had meat and it was even better than she remembered. She hoped she could have red meat again soon though. Just a little bit of sear, enough to bring out the flavor, but not enough to take away that texture when she could feel her teeth driving apart the fibers. When she had to rip and pull at it. The effort put into it made it better.

Rei shivered. Shinji made good food; maybe he would make beef for her if she asked. She liked him. He was nice. He did not want to hurt her. Not like that stupid doctor. Or those ugly girls at school. They were the same, they hated her for being better. Commander Ikari liked her more than the blond bitch. She was taller than those girls, faster, stronger, better looking… just better. If she cared she could get better grades than them too.

Dr. Akagi always had another test to run, another shot to give, another pill to order her to take. Rei snarled to herself, thinking how she must feel so smart, that she was fooling Rei. Rei knew what that wretched woman did was not "for her own good". She hated Rei, so she gave her the pills and the shots. To make her better she said but Rei knew the truth. It was all to put her in this fog, to make her dull and stupid. Because Dr. Akagi was afraid. Dr. Akagi saw that Rei was a predator and Dr. Akagi knew she was prey.

Those stupid girls too. Thought they were so damned clever, telling lies about her and putting tacks in her shoes. They were prey too. Prey thinks its so smart. It gets together and feels safe in a group and makes all the predators like her act like them. Weak. She saw how they looked at her, especially now that she spent her time with Shinji.

Shinji.

They were always jealous of her. What if they were jealous of her… _having_ him? They couldn't take him away though, not them. No no no, they were alike, they were the same. Not like the prey, not like _them_.

Rei began to toss and turn. She was uncomfortable here. It was too open. Too many doors. She couldn't watch them all. Even if she got up against the wall, no good corners. She was smarter than that; she let it happen once and wouldn't let it happen again.

Rei stopped herself from becoming more excited. She breathed in deep, just like sensei had taught her. She pulled the breath all the way in then slowly let it out. Shinji was here, he wouldn't be so careless to sleep somewhere unsafe. Perhaps he would share his space.

Rei rose to her feet, pulling the blanket up with her. Wrapping it about herself, she strode cat silent to the room Shinji slept in. She reached for the door knob and froze, her fingers a hair's width from the metal. She was…afraid? No, just nervous. She would not welcome a visitor while she slept. But he already knew she was here. He was the same as her, he would understand.

Rei gently turned the handle and pushed the door open just a little. Her eyes adjusted to the dark already, she could see Shinji huddled into the corner. Of course that's where he would be, that is where she would be. Rei opened the door further and stepped into the room. As she closed the door behind her, she heard him start behind.

"Wha!... Rei? W-what are you doing in here, what do you want?" Shinji said, throwing his blanket off and getting ready to stand.

He believed I was a threat, she thought. Yes, he is not prey. He knows harm comes in shapes we trust.

Shinji was surprised as Rei dropped the blanket from her shoulders and made a deep bow with one foot in front of the other. "I am sorry to disturb you, Ikari-san. I could not sleep and hoped I may share your space."

Shinji settled back down and pulled his blankets back around him. "S-sure. Why couldn't you sleep?"

"Too much space to watch." She said as she stepped closer and Shinji nodded. He knew the feeling. She pointed to the space beside him, where the wall met the floor and looked to him. Shinji nodded again and Rei laid down along the wall with the blankets around her with head near Shinji and her feet in the opposite corner. As she moved to get comfortable, Shinji silently offered her his pillow, holding it out for her in one hand. She looked to him then reached out for it. To his surprise, she grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand to her. As the pillow was beneath her head, his hand was to her lips.

Shinji froze. He didn't know what to do. Who does?

"Thank you" She said in a voice so soft and sincere as she released his wrist. In that instant, Shinji understood something about Rei he had not before. Kindness was foreign to her as it was to him. She expected what he expected, for everything around them to reject their presence.

"Y-you are welcome Ayanami-san. W-" Shinji reached out and touched her cheek with his hand. "We are the same." He did not know why he said it, or touched her like that, it just felt right. When she smiled at him, he was glad he had done it.

"Yes, we are." She said and held his pillow close as she watched the door. They did that together for a long time before sleep took them. Their thoughts as their eyes closed were the same.

_I can rest. _

_There is another._

They slept well.

Omake 1

Please note: This is canon, it has no impact on the story other than an old man who had to deal with way too much crap getting a good shake in his next life.

As Rei and Shinji fell to sleep, Pen Pen was in his icebox apartment, enjoying the reruns on the soap opera channel. He was glad Misato had sprung for cable. It was one of the many things he liked about life.

He could watch his stories without interruption. Nobody asked him to do anything. He didn't even have to bother with clothes!

And they said reincarnating as an animal was for the wicked. HA! This was a heaven. Though perhaps if he had been a little better, the beautiful creature that saw to his needs would have been Korean. She was hardly ugly, but it was comparing anchovy and smelt.

The new boy was even nice, he would have made a good student. It had been a treat to see the round eyed one again, he had turned out alright. There was still so much happening the world, but the Hot Springs Penguin was sure they would have it well in hand.

And so we learn why Chuin is not in this story: I can't write the old bastard.

So yeah, Rei was on those meds for a reason. I apologize if anyone finds the way I write her thoughts weird or difficult to follow. I think of it as stream of consciousness from an unorganized mind, more how I imagine an animal thinks.

Love the reviews and PMs, please keep them coming.


	12. Chapter 12

Slightly late update this time but keeping to a one a week schedule. A little more inside Rei's head this chapter, which is really fun to write.

I had initially planned to not directly discuss the pilots training just because I felt like it was going to come out like a training montage, which would look lazy. Then I realized it would just **be** lazy not discuss it.

Chapter 12

Shinji woke as he normally did, his body just ceasing to sleep right about 0600. He looked down and found Rei still asleep, so he did his best to be quiet as he rose. Still groggy, he nearly stripped down right in front of her, usually wearing only his towel to the bathroom. Shinji threw his towel over his shoulder and had grabbed the door knob when he heard Rei stir and turned back around.

She yawned and stretched in the early morning light and Shinji stared. He understood in that moment why jumpers were used as school uniforms for girls. They hid what Misato's loaned nightshirt showed for Shinji in the early morning light. Shinji only stopped staring minutes later when he realized two red eyes were staring back.

"I-I'm sorry Ayanami-san!"

Rei tilted her head and the little smile on her lips made Shinji melt.

"It is no bother." She said then stood, the shirt hanging from her shoulders and leaving her somewhat more covered. "Thank you for sharing your lair with me. I slept well. Did you?"

"Yes, t-thank you." Shinji replied, reflexively twitching as Rei moved towards him with slow, graceful steps. He nearly pulled away as she took his hand, but when he looked up and into her eyes he stopped.

"Do your dressings need tending to, hunter?" Rei asked as she looked at his bandaged forearm.

"I-I guess I need to change them yeah." Shinji replied. He had been changing them in the bathroom the few days he had been out of the hospital. Every instinct was telling him to twitch and pull away as she touched him, but he felt both calmed and paralyzed by Rei's dainty hands and crimson eyes.

Rei smiled and let go of his arm, then stepped back before bowing to him like she had the night before. One foot in front of the other and all the way down to her waist before straightening up.

"Then allow me repay your kindness." She said.

She sat down on the tatami floor and gestured for Shinji to follow. He did and began to unwrap the bandages around his left arm. Well he tried anyway. Every time he tried to grab at the wrappings his hand just would not close right. He knew what he was doing but his fingers refused to follow orders. Shinji became frustrated. He felt like an idiot. The more frustrated he became the worse his attempts failed, until Rei stopped him with a hand placed over his.

"It takes time, I know. May I?" Rei asked and Shinji sighed and drooped his head, then nodded. He knew he was weak, he hated showing it off.

Rei began to gently remove the bandage along his left arm, then the right. Though he was not burned directly, the damage beneath his skin left a noticeable difference in skin tone. His hands were darker, almost olive compared to the pasty white of the rest of his body. The color rose all the way up to his elbows, ending in veiny marks crawling up his scrawny biceps.

Once Rei finished upwrapping his arms, she waited for him to remove his shirt. And waited. After a couple of minutes she bent down to be in his field of view as he looked at the ground.

"If I am going to tend to the rest of your dressing, you need to take off your shirt." Rei said, and was rewarded with a shake of Shinji's head as he closed his eyes. The next thing Shinji felt was her hand touching his face. Her skin was soft and Shinji shivered as her fingers cupped his chin and gently raised his head. He opened his eyes and found himself staring into Rei's.

"Please?" She said, and Shinji nodded. He reached over over his head to pull it off and winced in pain. When Rei reached to help him he pushed her hand away and got his shirt off on his own. Shinji liked Rei, he wanted to be her friend. He did not want to look pathetic in front of her.

His bandages began at the base of his rib cage and rose around his shoulders, ending at the base of his neck. He raised his arms out to his sides and Rei began to unwrap the remaining bindings. As she pulled the bandages away from his body, the long winding mark left by the angel's attack was revealed. It resembled a snake coiled around his body. Between the coils Rei saw a multitude of smaller, older marks.

The last bandage gone, Rei reached out and touched a finger to the snake mark, eliciting a gasp from Shinji. As she pulled away, Shinji's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

"I felt that."

"I can tell."

"No… you d-d-d-don't…" Shinji paused and took a deep breath. "When I touch it, I don't feel it. When Misato helped me and touched it, I didn't feel it. Everything Dr. Akagi did and I didn't feel any of it. When you touched it… it felt. Just feeling something felt good."

Rei smiled and reached forward to touch him again, drawing her finger along par of the scar. Shinji moaned and Rei shivered. She liked that noise. As she touched him again and followed the curve of the snake scar across his chest she got to hear it again.

"Aya-…Ayanami-san!"

Rei grinned and kept going. "Yes, hunter?"

Shinji grabbed her wrist again, pulling her fingers away from her even though _they felt so good_.

"T-that felt really good."

"I can tell, would you like me to continue?"

"Y-yes! I mean no, I mean- WILL YOU STOP THAT!" Shinji snapped when Rei kept trying to poke his scars. She giggled and he sighed. "It takes a really long time to bath with these and we need to get ready."

"Oh very well, where are your bandages and medicine?" She said. Shinji pointed them out and with practiced ease Rei bandaged him back up. She had been left to her own wounds enough to become an expert. Shinji took the first bath, reasoning he could make breakfast while the two ladies bathed. After he left, Rei disposed of his soiled bandages then sat back down on the floor, looking around Shinji's room.

So this was the lair of the hunter of angels she thought. In the darkness she had not had the chance to inspect it. It was so very…plain. She laughed inwardly at herself. Had she expected a head mounted on the wall or his weapons on display? He used no weapons; he fought with his body. She admired that and today she would learn to do the same. His prey were the monsters who sought to end the world, and they would be her prey too.

Rei bit her lip and shivered. They would hunt and kill together. She stretched her hands above her head as she imagined her name daubed in angel blood.

Her name. Rei. No no no NO! Not that name, not the name THEY gave her. Dr. Akagi and her just as wretched mother. Names were power and they thought they could name her, that they could _control_ her. She knew her name once, her real name.

She wrote on the walls of her room but then they took it away from her. The fog of pills and needles was still there and it wouldn't let her see. She knew things but she couldn't remember. They ground it away and painted it over like they could take it away.

It was just on the edge of the fog. She could feel it in her mind. She could taste its color. She could see how it was meant to feel.

It was right there, and all the memories of when she found it the first time, the happiness, the joy. And then the pain, and the guilt, and the needles and the fog took it away. Four years of sensation taken, **stolen!**

They took it! The prey took it from her. They stole it for themselves. They took her name and they controlled her.

How much longer until she remembered?

How much longer until it was all gone?

Until what was taken returned?

Until she was whole again?

What was her name?

Rei jolted herself from her mindspace, from the fog and the thing just out of sight. She sat on the floor of the hunter's room, knees to her chest and hands grasping her own head. Sweat covered her body and the cool morning air moving through the loose shirt tickled.

She drew fingers through her hair. Why was it so short? Rei wondered how long it would take to be long. Would he like it long? It might interfere with what they were to learn. She hoped it wouldn't.

Breakfast was eggs over rice. Rei had already been in the shower when Misato awoke, so they avoided the very awkward conversation Shinji had dreaded having. It was such a pain to wash with these bandages, he had rushed through the sponge bathing as quickly as he could and did his best not to imagine Rei helping him through it.

By 0800 the captain and both teens in karategi training uniforms were riding an elevator within NERV. The day before, Shinji had been embarrassed when he found himself staring at Rei. Now when their eyes met, they smiled. Loneliness was something Shinji knew, especially when surrounded by others. He did not feel as lonely with her around and that, he thought, was the best thing that had happened since he came to this strange place. He was not alone.

Several minutes later they stood in front of the door to the impromptu NERV dojo. Hung from the wall beside the sliding door was a hand written sign in English. It hung from a nail driven through the steel wall.

"The most illustrious and secret sanctuary of Sinanju, NERV annex. Master of Sinanju Remo Williams and his handsome and tireless apprentice Vitali Genomevich. Trespassers will be instructed." Misato read aloud in Japanese for the kids. "Cute."

Misato tapped the button to open the door and they entered. The instructors had been busy. The multitude of crates that had only yesterday filled a wall of the large room had been emptied and myriad constructs now filled the room. Some looked like dummies, some looked like playground equipment. In the corner straight across from the door, a mobile kitchen had been set up and they could see Vitali at work.

Remo stood from a spot on the floor and greeted them, shaking Misato's hand then bowing to the children who returned the gesture. He was barefoot and wore a pair of chinos with a blue sports shirt untucked, the sleeves rolled up over his elbows.

"Captain Katsuragi, if you would be so kind, I need you to leave now. What is going to happen here is for master and students alone." Remo said, his voice polite but firm.

"Okay when should I return?" Misato asked.

"In a week."

"I mean when will they have a break?"

"In a week."

Misato sighed and slouched her shoulders. This guy reminded her of Kaji when he was acting all arrogant. "I bet I already know the answer, but when can I come check on them?"

"In a week." Remo and Misato said together.

"You know Shinji doeas all the cooking at my place now, right?

"You can join us for meals Captain Katsuragi!" Vitali yelled from the kitchen. Remo palmed his face. Stupid, foolish apprentices he heard the voice of his master speak in his mind. He had not yet given the boy the talk his master had given him, the lesson that ruined the act forever for him. He had sworn to himself that he would not and that his contribution to the art of Sinanju would future generations actually being able to enjoy sex. He was very tempted to compromise on that point right now.

"Oh that would be wonderful Vitali-san, I look forward to trying your cooking."

"Yeah I make a great kotley and saus-" Vitali was drowned out as Remo spun Misato around and marched her out the door

"Enough, enough, Captain I will let you know if there is an acceptable time to visit the pilots, but I really must insist you get out!" Remo said as he moved her into the hallway then closed the door. A console on the outside beeping and switching a red light on to show it was locked from within.

"Damn." Misato said, snapping her fingers. She had hoped to hang around and have an excuse to miss the morning ops meeting.

Inside, Remo returned to his students. In front of them were several racks, eaching holding up a wooden board.

"When I was first asked to come here and teach you two, I was shown tapes of the battles against the 3rd and 4th angels. What I saw pleased me, because by some accident the machine had stumbled upon one of the great truths of Sinanju." Remo began, pulling a chair from the wall and spinning it around to sit facing the pilots with the back of the chair in front of him.

"The greatest weapon is the body. Guns are the toys of children, unfit for assassins. All the blades forged in history are pale imitations of what the body can do." Remo crossed his arms across the chair back and rested his chin upon them.

"Now I find out that our young master Ikari here was the pilot in those battles, and a question occurs to me. Shinji, where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Um… I don't know?" Shinji replied, pausing between each word, embarrassed.

"Not surprising. Can you tell me what the advantage of using one's teeth to sever the arm at the elbow is?

"Uuuuuuum…"

"No you can't, cause there ain't one unless you are a hundred yards tall and have teeth the size of a bus. Then the advantage is you are a hundred yards tall and have teeth the size of a goddamn bus." Remo helpfully answered his own question.

Shinji twitched and lowered himself by reflex. Sensei was mad.

"What are you so afraid of?"

"Y-your m-m-mad."

"And? I didn't crush a giant monster's heart with my bare hands. You did. I have spent my life killing men, but all the men I have killed wouldn't add up to the toe of the big green one you offed your first day here. You are the one who rides the giant, not me. So why are you afraid?

"But the Eva did those things, not me! I don't like violence, I didn't want to!"

"Do not talk to the destroyer of not liking violence kid. I have seen men fight and die in every possible way. I know rage when I see it. You didn't like violence because you were on the receiving side. Now though, I think you got a taste for it."

Remo stood, pushing the chair back to the wall with one hand. "So here is how it is going to be. I don't know how much time we have until another one of those angels comes on down looking for a fight."

Remo stepped over to a series of 3x3x9 pine blocks. "However I do know that in a weeks time, I can teach you some basics that will make you amongst the deadliest children in the world. We will be reviewing these for the next day or so, so don't worry if you don't catch the first time. Our hands are as weapons. Now my master told me this many years ago, so forgive me if I don't explain it perfectly the first time."

Remo held his right hand out, two fingers extended straight out. "The knife." His arm snaked out, his hand a blur, and the first target fell in two pieces to the floor, one bouncing off the wall.

Remo stepped to the next target, holding up a closed fist. "The mace." With a backhand strike across his body, the block burst into splinters.

Remo stepped to another target, his fist still closed. "The spear." He struck out straight armed, sending the block as two splintered pieces flying off the wall in front of him.

Remo opened his hand for the final target. "And the sword." The muscles of his entire body powered the stroke, whipping his arm around and cleaving through the block. The bottom part stayed in place, the top Remo caught from the air with his left hand. The break was perfectly straight and clean.

"There are many ways to kill men. Pressure points, poison, slings and arrows, and even guns, but you are not fighting men, and if anything these first two encounters have shown us our enemy can come in any shape. So this week we are going to teach you how to use your bodies to move…" Remo closed his hand around the piece of wood in his hand, crushing it. "…and strike." He turned his hand over and opened it, dropping sawdust on the mat.

Remo got both the children up and after many demonstrations and corrections, counted rhythm as they practiced the knife strike. They were children, they needed instruction, but they would do. It was a pleasant thing for Remo to do this. When he had trained Vitali it had been little lessons in every spare moment. He imagined this was how the Masters of Sinanju had taught their sons for generations and now he was doing it too.

Of course he was breaking two of the longest held rules of the House of Sinanju. One Master one apprentice, and he was teaching two, three really. Only sons, and he was teaching a daughter. Oh well, he thought, traditions can change. He barked out a correction and the girl paused and the boy twitched. They needed work.

There were no clocks and neither Shinji nor Rei knew how long they practiced into the air before Remo told them that was enough. Vitali brought his master a basket of bright green tennis balls.

"You know honorable son, I am really enjoying this, brings me back to those first days with you, after you stopped trying to kill me."

"Those were good times, Ssem."

"Indeed my boy, so I feel selfish taking all this enjoyment for myself." Remo slapped the blond man on the shoulder. "Be sure your throwing techniqiue does not disgrace us."

"Uuuum, Sensei?"

"Vitali, explain please… or don't, thats fun too." Remo said as he walked away. The food smelled good.

"Soooo, you kids ever play dodgeball? Do they do that in Japan?" Vitali asked, tossing a ball in the air and catching it with one hand.

Shinji shuddered. Yes, they do that in Japan.

-four years previous-

"Oh Kami, not in the face!"

*whump whump whump whump whump whump whump whump*

*whistle blows*

-Back in the present day-

Shinji did not like where this was going.

"I am not familiar with the game, how is it played?" Rei asked. Vitali demonstrated and the little green blur took her at the forehead, taking her off her feet and to the mat. The projectile deflected straight up and landed with a whump on her abdomen, elicitng a groan from the red-eyed girl.

Shinji considered he could have warned her that was going to happen, but also that he really should not be blamed for not having done so.

"That is basically it." Vitali said, picking up another ball in one hand and three more in the other. "'Cept you won't be dodging. I would explain more but I feel kids should have room to figure things out for themselves."

Vitali hurled another fuzzy little ball of pain, this time at Shinji. Shinji ducked the head shot, then takes another in the leg. He falls to the ground clutching his thigh and breathing through the worst charliehorse ever.

Rei had regained her footing and brought her hands up in a fighting stance. She thought she had figured it out. Just attack the ball.

You know whats the worst position to judge the distance and speed of an object from for the human eye? Right in front of it.

Rei rejoined Shinji on the mat.

It was Shinji's turn again, having pushed himself up through the pain. He had the same idea, but more people had tried to throw things at Shinji in his life. He knew if you reacted once it was airborne, it was too late. Vitali wound up for another pitch and Shinji cocked his arm back to strike. Shinji jabbed out at the same time the junior instructor threw. The green ball of pain was cloven in twain and Shinji wooped in celebration.

His victory was interrupted as the one right behind it took him by the ear and he hit the map with a dull thud.

Rei managed to get one too before she was back down.

"You're a louse Vitali-sensei." She said from the ground.

But the next time, they got two in the air before falling. The time after that it was three, then four, then five, then they were up more than they were down.

What felt like several hours later, Remo ended the exercise for food and a short break. Shinji thanked whatever spirit of mercy had found their teacher. He could feel the soreness of the bruises growing all over his body. He looked over to Rei lying on the matt beside him. She was forced to admit that while she was very pretty, it was difficult to see that right now. Neither was worse off than the other, but that didn't mean either came out of the exercise well.

At Vitali's insistance, Remo intercommed Misato to tell her she could join them for lunch. The kids groaned as they sat up.

"Wait, lunch, you mean dinner right? I feel like I haven't eaten all day." Shinji said.

"Good means you are working." Remo replied.

When Misato entered she gasped at the bruises and loudly insisted on being told just what they had been doing with these poor children.

"Playing tennis." Shinji snarked, though it came out more like 'praying mantis' through his fat lip.

Rei hoped lunch was good, she really wanted meat right now. Raising a hand to rub a sore spot on her face she found her jaw very tender. She reconsidered. Soup would be more pleasant.

Soup was in fact on the menu, a thick and hardy dish that Vitali claimed to have been passed down from grandmother. Vitali gave each of the pilots a very pungent cup of tea as well, insisting it would help them keep up their strength. Neither argued over the rich soup or the smelly tea.

Remo left the children to rest and eat. He took the documents for the Eva's new equipment with him and headed to Dr. Akagi's lab several levels beneath. He wanted to get his recommendations to her so the machines could be ready in time.

Remo laughed to himself. Remo the assassin, master of Sinanju, office drone, giant robot engineer. He had pretended to be just about everything else, so why not give it a shot. Lab coat and a pocket protector and he could talk his way through after all the crap he had read in these files.

"Heya blondie." Remo said as he entered the lab, which had returned to its normally cluttered state. He carefully stepped over stacks of paper and ducked under equipment as he approached Dr. Akagi's desk.

"Mr. Williams, how…lovely to see you. I hope we can move past that business from yesterday, it was just business of course. Nothing personal you know." Said Dr. Akagi. She cocked an eyebrow when Remo responded by laughing.

"Of course, just business." He said then set the black folders on her desk. "I'm no da vinci, but I hope my scribbles will help explain what I think you should do."

Ritsuko raised her reading glasses and opened the folder for Unit One. Clipped to the original documents were several pieces of notebook paper with very clean and detailed drawings. Accompanied by absolutely horrendous handwriting. Dr. Akagi thought it was Japanese for a moment before she figured out it was English.

"Your modifications to the forearm armor are certainly interesting." She dryly observed.

"Right, so those fins? I know they are supposed to be for interfacing with other equipment, but they look like they would crumple in an elbow strike. But those knees they have on the original armor, those look like they could take a hit. Misato said you had extras of the original armor, so its parts you already got." Remo explained, pointing out his thoughts on the drawings as he spoke. The fins running the length of the forearms were gone, replaced by a single blade adapted from the B-type knee armor, extending at 45 degrees from the elbow.

"I like the reinforced fingers though, especially bringing them to points like that. The knuckle-duster, not so much. Sinanju uses a lot of fingertip strikes but those bars are going to snap with a properly done strike with the full fist. Now on page 2, diagram b…" Remo reached forward and flipped the page past the Doctor's nose. "You can see my idea for a better solution. I think these would serve your purposes better."

Dr. Akagi looked at the knife like knuckles, made up of 4 L-shaped blades that appeared to slide into place when the fingers clenched into a fist. Below, labeled diagram c, was a system of linkages to accomplish the movement.

"With the hand open, they will brace the wrist for better rigidity. Good for open palm and finger point technique."

Ritsuko Akagi nodded and made little affirmative noises as he explained. "I notice, Mr. Williams, that your concepts are a great deal slimmer than the originals. Is that just your hand or are you proposing we forego additional armor? I think that would be dangerous given what we have seen so far."

"Well if you can slim it down a little bit…" Remo said, thumb and forefinger held up in a pinching gesture. "I am going to teach the pilots how to avoid taking a full hit whenever possible."

"Given the nature of our enemies, I do not think that will always be a possibility. I will see about some streamlining, but I make no promises. Given that you don't seem to have gotten past the arms yet, do you object to implementing the new equipment in blocks as we can produce it? In the meantime we will make repairs with B-type armor."

"Whatever gets them battle ready quickest. There is one other thing Doc."

"Yes, Mr. Williams?"

"Do they have to be painted all bright?"

Ritsuko Akagi laughed and shook her head. "Unit Zero was only painted yellow for testing purposes. Assuming we can get a successful activation with the first child, we can order paint it whatever color we like. Unit One…" Ritsuko Akagi paused and bit her lip for a second. "… We had a scientist working on the project who died in the construction of Unit One. Dr. Yui Ikari. She chose the colors and we kept them to honor her sacrifice."

"Ikari? Like Shinji?"

"And the commander yes. She was Shinji's mother, the commander's wife."

"Alright, purple green and orange it is. When do you want Rei for another test?"

"Well while I still have my objections to stopping psychoactive treatment, we should at least be scientific about it. That means waiting until all traces have let her system. At the dosage we had her before you terminated treatment, I would put that at about 2 weeks from today."

"If we are being scientific about it, couldn't training affect her results?"

"I doubt it would do anything more than we have tried in the past. Meditation and exercise have had minimal effects on synchronization scores in my experience."

"Well give me two weeks and she will be the fittest she has ever been, that's for sure." Remo said as he stepped around the desk and its mountains of documents to stand next to Ritsuko.

"So, Ritsuko, about the first child…" Remo said, sliding his hand across Dr. Akagi's shoulders, using gentle pressure to roll her chair closer. He was met with a single finger to his lips.

"Mr. Williams, as I said, yesterday was strictly professional, necessary but not pleasant. I am aware of your reputation and your supposed prowess, but I am simply not interested. I am sorry but…" She turned in her chair and looked at him over her glasses. Her elbows were hooked over the back of her chair and her legs crossed at the knee. "That's the biz, sweetheart!" She said and pushed herself away from him, laughing all the way.

Remo stood, watching the blond cackle. He chose not to interrupt as she took several minutes to stop. In the meantime, a young lieutenant with a bob cut entered and placed a fresh cup of coffee on Ritsuko's desk.

When she finally finished, clutching her sides and breathing heavily, Ritsuko looked up and giggled one last time looking at Remo.

"I would of thought CURE destroyed all those files, they were always so good about that."

Dr. Akagi took a long sip on her fresh coffee as she composed herself. "Aaaah, thank you Maya."

"No problem sempai!"

"Ah yes, well you needn't worry, they were quite thorough in their scrubbing. However every other intelligence agency around the world thought you were an entire ring of mercenaries and had extensive files on what turned out to be you. Our MAGI computers were the first time the connection was made once your information was inputted."

"That is quite worrying doctor. Who has access to information within your computers?"

"Don't worry Mr. Williams, its only myself, Lt. Ibuki here, Commander Ikari, Vice Commander Fuyutsuki, and Captain Katsuragi, though Misato has never actually used her access. Everyone else is restricted to the function of their station and nothing more."

"All due respect doc, that's a lot of people and I wasn't too comfortable with how many people had that information at CURE."

"And how many was that, Mr. Williams?"

"One."

End

For those unfamiliar with The Destroyer, "that's the biz, sweetheart" is kind of a catchphrase from Remo. He uses it often and even though most people he came into contact with over his career did not live to tell about it, enough survived that I imagined it would make it into some files.

Also a note on Remo's clothing. For those too young to know, chinos are a kind of khaki pant. A sportshirt is not an exercise shirt, it is a non-formal button down, usually with breast pockets. This is the kind of thing Remo was frequently described as wearing. In more modern times, a person dressed similarly might be wearing a classy polo instead (think RL, la coste, that sort of thing).

Thank you so much for your reviews, they are helpful and I enjoy corresponding with some of the more consistent reviewers. Shout outs to: Never Learned To Code (Check out his just wrapped up NGE/Dues Ex crossover Gods Made From Men), Tymofey, and Dragonrising. They have each influenced the story to some degree or another with their comments. Usually by me writing out some detail or other and realizing it sounds stupid.


	13. Chapter 13

Wow, picking up followers quickly now. Thank you all so much your reviews and encouragement. More training scenes this chapter with some exposition. I feel lazy writing some of the training, because I know after the first time you do something it is just repetition, so don't expect to get a detailed break down of their week.

Fun game: When the bold text of **The Voice** shows up, imagine it has the voice of Brian blessed when it speaks like that, and Rowan Atkinson when he quiets down. I cannot decide which is more amusing. I do know that to me he has a refined, but snarky, British accent.

Trigger warnings: Snakes. Not that bad you might say, but I'd like a damn warning about them.

Chapter 13

Shinji chose to forego the spoon and tossed it aside. He brought the hot bowl of hearty soup to his mouth and drank it all down in a matter of seconds. During their first meal break he had only a single bowl and that smelly tea. Now his body screamed for fuel. This was his third helping. It was the damn tea.

Vitali had explained to them that they were not drinking tea for the stimulant caffeine, but because this tea would improve their digestion. When Shinji asked why that mattered, he had gone on to explain that they were going to be pushing their bodies such that they were going to need every bit of energy they could get, so the more they could take from their food the better. In reality, between the exercise and the tea, their bodies were eating through every calorie and craving more.

As he drank the broth, the burning in his arms and legs eased and the soreness dulled. They had spent several more hours on the knife hand after their first meal. Remo-sensei was only satisfied that they understood the basic movement once they could strike ten out of ten balls thrown at them. First with their strong hand, then again with their off hand. He said it was important because this technique was the basis of a more advanced technique he called "the floater" which could injure the user if done incorrectly.

Remo related the story of having done just that with a low level hit man for the mob (he explained it was like the yakuza except Italian) when the mook (Shinji found Remo liked that word for bad men) fainted in surpise and his attack over traveled. That had led to telling them about the mystery he had been investigating when the incident happened and so on and so forth. Shinji was convinced now that unless one had seen his teacher in person and heard him tell his tales, which he continued as they practiced, nobody would believe them. Shinji liked best the ones about Remo's own teacher, who sounded like a very wise man.

Shinji had been satisfactory, but Remo-sensei had applauded Rei's precision and speed. To strike all 10 targets had felt like a single long action for Shinji, with no time think in between, only to do as he caught a glimpse of the next target. When he watched Rei do the same exercise though, each strike was a precise movement and she was already sizing up the next target before she had finished her strike on the first.

Shinji's confidence had been renewed by the mace and the spear hand though. Both required the entire body to move at once for maximum power and his coordination was very good. Of course, he thought to himself as he asked for another helping, his body had been the same size for a good long time. Rei was tall and all the tall girls Shinji knew his own age had only gotten that way recently.

Both the mace and spear practice had used the same apparatus, a thick wooden stake mounted atop a coiled spring. They were told that when they hit the stake, either from the side with the mace or head on with the spear, it should come back and strike them in exactly the same spot. This would show their energy was directed into a single direction. If the target wavered or swung away, it meant their energy had scattered.

It had looked simple when Remo and Vitali showed them, but they quickly found that if struck improperly, the thick stake could easily swing out and take them off their feet.

Shinji found his injuries offered some advantage as they continued with the exercise. After a while, Rei would wince in pain even she did the strike correctly as her knuckles bloodied. Shinji could see the blood on his own hands the same way, but he did not feel anything more than a moment of pressure when the target snapped back after a good hit. Rei began to shy away from the pain and it took frequent correction from the instructors to keep her correct. As Shinji began his third helping, he could see her wrapping her hands in tape as his were.

Misato had joined them for lunch, but not this meal and Remo began to brief them on their next lesson as they finished up and drank more of the odorous tea.

"Alright, next lesson is going to be movement. While one would think the strike is the most important skill of the assassin, movement is far more…" He paused when the blue haired girl raised her hand. "Uh, yes Rei, got a question?"

"What about the sword hand technique?"

"We will get to that later. Probably not this week though. Its not like just striking with the side of your hand. Without conditioning, you'll just slice the flesh of the palm open. Now, when we move…" Remo continued on his point.

"But…" Rei interrupted.

Remo turned and looked directly into her red eyes. He usually paced as he spoke, so standing straight on and looking straight at her was something that immediately made Rei feel uncomfortable.

"Ordinarily, this would be the point where I would feel it was a good idea to teach you a lesson in humility, first daughter of Sinanju. Where I would stop teaching you with my voice and my heart and teach you instead with my hands. However that would require us ceasing instruction. As you may have noticed, we are in the midst of an attack by forces beyond our understanding and we have no idea how long we have to prepare. As such, I do not want to waste time bringing you in line. So you get off with a warning today when I should have taught you a valuable lesson. Accept my deepest apologies, for if I truly loved you as my master loved me, I would not spare you knowledge. Are we clear on that, Rei?"

Rei lowered her head between her shoulders and looked away from his eyes, then nodded.

"Do not cow like an animal, speak!" Remo snapped

"Yes Sensei!" She replied quickly.

"Good. Now where was I… Oh yes, movement is far more important a skill than the strike. We move to approach our target, we move to deceive our foe, and we move while engaged. In all cases, the ultimate goal is to have as little impact on our surroundings as possible. When done correctly, that is perfectly, we leave no signs of our presence in the past, make no sound in the present, and give nothing away about the future. Now watch me…"

Remo's demonstration went on for some time before he set them on a new exercise. Almost an entire mat had been taken up by a structure of pipe and fittings. They were told to try and shake it and found it easily moved and each movement very noisy thanks to bells attached at every fittings.

"Go ahead and play for a while, get used to moving on it. Once you are comfortable, we will begin." Remo told them. It took about 5 minutes to get past that awkward teenage concept whereby acting like a child was somehow embarrassing, and they were swinging around the nearly twenty foot high grid and making a lot of noise doing it.

The exercises were as follows. They would each begin at a starting point and told to move to an end point, each denoted by a colored cloth that Vitali would place and move. The challenge was they were to do so without making any noise.

It was some time before they were even able to move amongst the metal without ringing bells and even longer until they could be silent to Remo's satisfaction. By the time their sensei finally told them to stop, they were exhausted. Not hungry, just tired like neither could remember being before.

The pilots rested and stretched with Remo as Vitali removed several sections of pipe, both horizontal and vertical. They would no longer be able to rely on a perfect three-dimensional grid. After they could move as quickly as they had before, the instructors turned off the light, only showing them their new goals in short flashes of spotlight. When they could do it silently, blind, from memory, they were finally allowed to sleep.

They were given rolled up mats and told they may sleep where they wish. The overhead lights were turned off and only smaller lamps near the kitchen area were left on for Remo and Vitali to do their own exercises. Rei and Shinji found a suitable corner amongst empty crates. Shinji didn't even bother to sit up and both fell asleep as soon as their bodies touched the ground.

**I would speak with you.**

_I am not in the eva, I am trying to sleep. It can wait._

**No, it cannot. I apologize my lord however because you are not within your chariot we are limited by the passage of time.**

_My lord? Who are you anyway?_

**I have brought your mind into my own realm, so that we may meet again as we have a thousand times before. Open your eyes, my lord.**

Shinji opened his eyes. Great, he thought, mad Americans by day, spooky voices by night. The light was bright and he had to shield his eyes for a moment before he could see his surroundings. Shinji was surprised to find himself in a grassy courtyard surrounded by ruined stone. Behind the stone in every direction were tall, straight trees. Sunlight shown through the trees onto the square courtyard, keeping it lit brightly while the thick canopy cast beyond the stones in shadow. Shinji rose from where he lay and sat with his legs crossed.

First he noticed he was still wearing his white training robes.

Second, he saw something moving in the trees then enter the courtyard. As it came closer, Shinji realized it was an enormous black snake. Shinji tried to rise to his feet, to run away, but the gigantic serpent encircled him. As its head rose above him, at least three times his own height, its great cobra-like hood unfurled. Light passed through the flaps and geometric designs covered the ground where it struck, the patterns etched upon the great snake's skin.

He had spent the day training with the deadliest man alive and Shinji was terrified. This is of course the most socially acceptable reaction to being confronted by a gigantic cobra. Conversely, it is generally considered rude to quote Dr. Henry Jones regarding the reason for the presence of the serpent.

The great beast lowered its head, touching its snout to the ground. Upon its head was a great jewel, a ruby as big as Shinji's head set in gold, and as it again raised its head, the gem and setting looked like a crown.

**I am Vasuki, first of the great kings of the Naga, the serpent folk who are as to the snake as the gods are to a man. I am, as ever, at my lord's service.**

Shinji shook where he stood and tripped as he tried to step back, falling on his rear. He scuttled back across the ground until he met the snake's flesh at his back.

"Y-y-you're the voice, t-t-t-t-the one who t-t-talked to me? In the eva?"

**Yes**

"You are very scary in person."

The naga dramatically shrugged and sighed, as best as a being that lacks shoulders can.

**Would it please you if I were to take a less ****_impressive_**** form, my lord?**

Shinji nodded quickly. In the blink of an eye, the snake was before him, still huge but in a scale he could deal with. Shinji brought himself back to sitting and the naga held his head level with Shinji's with many coils still on the ground.

**Better?**

"Maybe tone down the voice a little?"

"This lacks a certain gravitas, but if it pleases you I will not complain… much." Vasuki said, actually moving his mouth for the first time Shinji had seen. The serpent unraveled itself and moved closer to Shinji, who started to back away again.

"Why do you fear me? I am here to help you." He said as he circled the boy.

"I'm sorry, you are a snake, it's a natural reaction." Shinji replied, twitching away from Vasuki's head

"Do you think I am going to bite you or harm you in some other way? Have I not helped you every time we have spoken?"

"well no, er yes, I mean… No I don't think you are going to hurt me and I am really thankful that you helped me. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"Your gratitiude is as honey. Have you been bitten by one of my kin or subjects before? I will find the perpetrator myself."

"Well, no. Actually you are the first snake I have ever met, well I mean. You know what I mean."

"Then why are you afraid?

Shinji thought about it for a minute. The naga had a point.

"I am sorry."

"Do not be, many never learn the lesson you have just taught yourself. Trust in your experience, not in your conceptions."

Shinji nodded.

"I am sure you have questions, but as I said we have a limit on our time together and I have many things I wish to tell you."

"Okay."

"This entire process has been somewhat slapdash. Normally all of this would have been prepared in advance, you would have been informed much earlier, had a suitable mentor right from the start or at the very least a good family life. This is what we get for rushing things. I know it was the best course of action available but to have the entire trimurti occupied like this is just asking for trouble…" The naga had begun to sway as he prattled on. Shinji supposed it was like Remo-sensei pacing as he talked. The serpent stopped and looked at Shinji, who had a look of blissful ignorance on his face.

"You haven't the faintest idea what I am talking about do you?"

Shinji shook his head. "Sorry. Does it have to do with dharma?"

"Yes yes, it has everything to do with dharma! Mine, yours, the universe!"

"I think I understand dharma. It is like what we are meant to do, our purpose. Everything has a dharma, and when I fight the angels, I am fixing something wrong with it. Like they represent a wound or something and by killing them, it is removed. So my dharma is to protect the dharma of the universe so that all the things living in it can fulfill their dharma. Right?" Shinji's explanation was rapid, but his question was rather timid.

The naga raised an eyebrow. Well that's what Shinji thought it was trying to do or something. It actually looked more like when a dog cocked its head. "That is surprisingly astute actually. Mostly correct too."

"So if you could explain what is going on, can we start with that? I think I understand that."

"Alright, I suppose it is as good a place to start as any." Vasuki adjusted himself, settling into a figure eight with his head rising from the intersection. Shinji wasn't sure why but it made him think of someone sitting cross-legged. Must be how you do it without legs, he thought.

"As you said, we each have a dharma, a purpose. All things that exist, animate or inanimate, spirit or mortal, have dharma. Dharma is not only an end, but also a means. It is living righteously, honoring the good, avoiding the wicked, that sort of thing. Even the supreme reality, Brahman, in which all exists, fulfills a purpose in this way. The mahadevas, the spirits tasked with such power as to be gods, each have their dharma in overseeing and guiding their particular sphere of power. The most powerful of these beings are the three known as the Trimurti. Is that clear so far?"

"Yes Naga-sama."

"Please, we have known each other far too long for that. I have served you for the better part of four Yuga, please call me Vasuki."

"How long is a Yuga, how come I don't remember you?"

"I will get to that. Now then, there are spirits in charge of things like storms, fire, wind, water, animals, everything. But the Trimurti and their wives watch over the big things. Brahma, not the same as Brahman human language is so limiting… oh right Brahma is the lord of creation. Vishnu protects and preserves creation. Now here is where you come in."

"I am created…"

"Indeed, you are, my lord."

"Are trying to tell me I am a god?"

"Heavens no, you are a 14 year old boy with issues to make an asura blush. Above that though, you are a hastily arranged incarnation…"

"An avatar?"

"Quite. You see this business with the event humanity calls impact and the angels, it is embarrassing to say, we didn't see coming. The gods and spirits had become complacent and assumed what they predicted would happen would happen and that would be that. Lord Vishnu was prepared to incarnate one more time this cycle in another half a million years, wrap it all up, end on a golden age and start the whole thing over. Nobody had conceived that there was something actually working against us. Now I don't mean the asuras, they were always part of the plan."

"What's an asura?"

"Your less pleasant relations, I will explain another time. Back to business, we didn't see it coming and the chaos that followed led to something of a problem. You see, Brahman simply is, without beginning or end. The spirits and beings that keep it working though, a certain amount of attention helps them do their duties. The vast majority of those who supplied that attention perished when pale imitations of divine weapons were used."

"When India and Pakistan nuked each other in the impact wars?"

"Indeed. So Lord Vishnu had already begun preparations for his final incarnation. For him to take mortal form now would destroy the cycle as bad as not doing anything at all. This is where the events of your life come into play. Normally an avatar is a grand operation with centuries of planning and preparation. We did not have that kind of time in this case and with a billion believers dead we couldn't have done it anyway. You yourself had the most experience in a mortal body recently and volunteered to be incarnated, even if we knew there would be complications." Vasuki paused here. "it was also decided to try and co-opt humanities own efforts at repelling the invader, thus why the child of Yui and Gendo Ikari was chosen. Nobody really thought that man would go to the lengths they have in their depravity."

Shinji nodded. He felt mad, the familiar anger he had nursed for years. In this case though, his anger seemed so small against what was out there. Problems that worried gods troubled him more than his stupid father.

"We-… I should have been there for you, my lord. Normally by your age an avatar has been educated, achieved moksha, and had some time to reacclimatize to their abilities. Their vassals and kin help them. But this time none could reach you. You were attacked, and buried in samsara, the cycle of karma." Vasuki said. Shinji could hear the sorrow in his voice.

"But now that we can talk, I can use like, I don't know god powers or something to end this, right? Nobody else has to get hurt, right?"

Shinji had never considered what a snake would sound like laughing. Turns out it is unpleasant, like rubbing sandpaper on a chalkboard.

"I am sorry, but I had thought every possible thought had passed between us over the eons, but that was the first time I have heard that. No, right now without the conduit of your chariot, the eva as you call it, accessing your power would burn your body to cinder. Both your mind and body are impure, unrighteous, and bogged down and blocked up with petty attachements and pain."

"Oh…"

"It is good that you have become student to Remo. He will help to purify you. You will learn to release yourself of that which restrains you. As you travel down the road to true wisdom your power will become available to you. We have little time remaining."

"True wisdom… Wait a sec, if you are the voice, who is the nurse?"

"The nurse?"

"The one who comes and sees me in the hospital, she knows about you, so who is she, really?"

"She told you her name, didn't she?"

"Yeah, but I mean like I thought you were the evangelion, but you are a snake king…"

"Naga."

"Whatever, if you are something else, then what is she?"

"A very wise woman, those who know its worth would give their world for her counsel. Goodbye my lord, until we speak again."

As the trees and the courtyard began to fade around him, Shinji got up and tried to grab the serpent as he slithered away.

"Hey, I have questions!"

"Oh, like?" Vasuki said, just a gleam of color from a gem in the shadows to Shinji now.

"I am created, that's all I know! Whats the rest?"

**Sorry, not allowed to spoil that one for you my lord. It is part of your journey. See you again when you figure it out.**

Shinji awoke with a start. His body did not ache, but his still felt tired. Stupid dreams about stupid snakes. He rolled over on the woven sleeping mat and came face to sleeping face with a pleasant sight that nonetheless made him nervous. Rei was still sleeping. Like him, she lay on a mat in the space they had found between crates. They were in the open, too tired to go through the procedure they shared of finding defensible corners.

Shinji was not sure what did it, perhaps just his breath, but Rei began to wake. Her eyes fluttered open and when she looked at him she smiled.

"Hey." She said softly.

"Hey." He replied and they lay like that for a moment, smiling and looking into each other's eyes.

"Hey you two are up, good!" Vitali interrupted what he was sure was a scene in preparation for romantic moment. Can't have that shit, nope, not when there was killing to learn.

They both groaned. "Good morning Vitali-sensei." They responded on unison.

"Morning? Hell no, midnight exercises, lets go!"

Stretching and running laps through the halls followed. When they began to slow, Vitali stopped them and showe them a long piece of thin retan.

"Y'all know what this is?" he said with a truly disturbing grin. Shinji thought it looked like he had too many teeth… for a shark.

Rei shook her head but Shinji recognized it. He knew not what possessed him to speak.

"It's a beating cane Vitali-sensei."

"Beating cane huh? I was just going to call it a cane but you had to go and make it perverted. Gonna have to watch you around him Rei, he's a dirty pervert."

Shinji blushed in wide eyed embarrassement.

"And?" Rei replied and Shinji turned nearly purple. Vitali's laughter echoed up and down the hall.

"Anyway, this is the slow student stick. See you are both out of shape, so we are going to work on your endurance. I am going to run with you, at a slower than acceptable pace. If I catch up to you, I will stimulate your legs with this stick to tell you that you need to pick up the pace. Nice and easy right?"

Twenty minutes later it occurred to Rei Ayanami that their younger sensei had been correct in ways that she had not anticipated. Vitali did in fact speak in a very nice and polite manner. It was in fact very easy to fall below the acceptable speed. Rei was in fact happy. Happy that the narrow halls prevented Vitali from swinging that damned stick any harder at her calfs.

"Darling sister, you re falling behind again!" Vitali called, right behind her

WHACK!

Rei yelped and pumped her legs as hard as she could. Vitali's idea of lower than acceptable speed was her idea of a dead run. She sprinted to catch up with Shinji. Shinji was an expert at running away from pain and was putting his experience to good use.

"Ikari-kun…" Rei checked over her shoulder before continuing. "I am very sorry."

"For what? My fault to get embarrassed." Shinji said as they rounded a corner, putting Vitali out of sight for a moment.

"No, this." Rei said and threw her hip into him, causing Shinji to trip. While he was still regaining his footing, have avoided going to the floor, Vitali came around the corner and Rei was 50 yards ahead.

"She tripped me sensei!"

"Likely story, lazy pervert."

Shinji thought he would get his later, in the real morning. After midnight was not the real morning, it was still the night before. Shinji thought it was just after 0500 now, so real morning. Remo-sensei had just finished teaching them how to fall and throw after giving up on them on the jungle gym for the day. The former was far more difficult than one would think, while the latter was none too simple either

The students were, for lack of a better word, wrestling. Nominally they were to be taking turns throwing and being thrown to practice, but this had quickly devolved into competition. Remo saw nothing wrong with this.

While they had learned several technigues, Shinji had begun to favor shooting for the leg, while Rei preferred over the shoulder. She had already grabbed him by the wrist and elbow and ducked beneath his arm, pushing her back against his side when he made his move. Shinji pulled his arms together, swinging him off Rei's back and around to her front. He wrapped his free hand about her shoulders and swung out with his leg. The effect was powerful and the look on Rei's face absolutely priceless to Shinji. They fell together as she had intended, but turned as they did so that Rei was the one to land on her back, pinned beneath Shinji.

"Sorry about that." Shinji quipped before Rei growled and used one leg to grapple him and the other to shoot for the reversal, flipping their positions.

"For what? Your fault to be embarrassed." She said with a grin, straddling him with her hands bracketing his head. Shinji reached out and shoved her left knee back. There was not enough weight to keep it down. Shinji grabbed her around the small of her back with his left arm then shoved with on open palm on her right shoulder, flipping them again.

He had watched her make that mistake no less than five times so far. He did not make it himself, keeping his weight low in his body.

"Well I-" Shinji began before being cut off by Vitali's bellowing.

"No no no, one more flirt out of you and I am getting the fire hose!" Vitali said then lifted Shinji off Rei by the back of his collar.

"It wasn't flirting, it was getting her back for tripping me in the hall earlier!" Shinji pleaded uselessly as he struggled, hung hy his own jacket. Vitali put him down then squared off across from him.

"Alright then, lets see you do it again. It wasn't a bad move if you weren't just trying to cop a feel." Vitali said , cracking his knuckles.

Rei stepped back and said with complete deadpan: "Oh thank you Vitali-sensei for defending my honor." It was fun to test herself against him, but she imagined watching him with another opponent would be just as nice. Less pain for her.

And more pain for Shinji apparently. Shinji tried every approach they had learned and each resulted in a new and different way for him to end up bouncing off the mat with limbs bent ways they should not be bent. He even ended up reversed the same way he had done Rei, but without the possibility to switch it again as Vitali summersaulted over his body and tossed him forward. Legs closed around Shinji's chest and his arm was pulled taunt.

"This is called the guillotine!" Vitali said as Shinji slapped the mat for mercy.

"That is also not a technique of Sinanju my foolish apprentice." Remo said as he approached. He swore he was turning into his own master dealing with Vitali all this time. Vitali quickly released the boy and got to his feet.

"Aw Ssem, just having as little fun."

"Do I have to give you the same lecture I gave Rei?"

"No Ssem, but…"

"Choose your next words very carefully, most honored son, lest a lesson become necessary."

"…Buuuuuut what if they have to fight something with a lot of tentacles or a snake, or something else that can grab them like that?"

"Hmmmmmm, okay." Remo said. "Go ahead and get a hold like that on him again. Shinji, go ahead and let him, you are going to learn something.

When they were thus situated again, Remo crouched beside them so he was face to face with the younger man.

"So lets say someone or something has you in a hold like this. First you should not have let them get you like that in the first place. But if you are, knife hand strike just forward of the heel. Go."

Vitali blanched and tried to let go of Shinji as quickly as he could, but he did not pull his foot away fast enough. Shinji struck and Vitali's entire leg cramped up, immobile.

"Vitali here would have done better to remember his pressure points, and he would have known that was coming. He also should have known I wouldn't fall for some stupid excuse like that. Ain't that right Vitali?"

"Yes Ssem, of course." He groaned, rolling on the mat holding his leg.

This was how their days went. Brief periods of rest between continuous physical activity and rich food that never seemed to be enough to stave off the hunger for more than a few hours. Misato had balked at training schedule when Remo had proposed it initially. Four hours of sleep a day and eighteen of instruction and exercise, the remainder being used for food and muscle rest breaks.

Starting on the second day, at a reasonable hour, Dr. Akagi had begun giving them lessons on how the evangelions functioned.

Day three they were eating six times a day as their bodies burnt through fuel like a wildfire. Chemically accelerated metabolisms left little fat on their bodies and the stringy but toned muscles began to show.

Day four, Shinji and Rei were allowed to spar with striking, but only after learning several defensive postures and only at less than half speed. The pilots were separated for private lessons. In a short period of rest, Shinji had another dream.

On the fifth day, NERV went on lockdown. Blue Pattern Detected.

End

Told y'all ya you might get a double update this week.

Next chapter starts with those private lessons. For those of you who are familiar with The Destroyer series and/or Hindu mythology, you probably have an idea of what is going to happen soon. Destroyer fans, next chapter is the first time we get to hear it. Don't know what "it" is? Tune in next time.


	14. Chapter 14

So for something I started writing just to stay sane through some difficult times, it looks like some of y'all out there like it.

I really need to rewrite that description, it totally lacks in descriptive value. I have noticed that is kind of common here though.

Chapter 14

"Okay you two, remember: slow and soft. You are not trying to injure each other. This is for developing your thinking more than anything else."

Shinji and Rei stood two strides across from each other. Each was in a fighting stance, on the balls of their feet with hands raised. For the last three days they had done nothing but learn, train, and eat. They took two two-hour naps a day. They had been fed nothing but very rich soup and disgusting tea. The soup was almost disgustingly thick, almost a porridge. The tea had been overstimulating their stomachs into devouring every last molecule of the gruel. They had eaten twice on the first day, now they stopped every few hours for a bowl or four just to keep the hunger at bay. It had had an effect on their bodies

What little body fat they both had was gone. Their muscles, previously a theoretical idea at best, were clearly visible, tight and ropey. Rei had wrapped her hands and forearms in tape, matching Shinji's own bandages. They covered scrapes and bloodied knuckles. Shinji did not feel the bloodied knuckles and the scrapes that bad, his bandaged were to help the nerves burned beneath the skin by the angel Shamshel.

In the precious free moments between closing his eyes and waking short hours later, Shinji had thought about that fight. Especially how if he had to do it again, with what he knew now, he wouldn't have these stupid burns. Of course then Remo and Vitali may never have come, and then Rei might still be on her pills.

Shinji let go of the regret over not learning to fight sooner. The past had happened and could not be changed. He had to focus his attention on the here and the now.

Rei advanced first, sending a spear hand attack towards Shinji's head. Shinji flowed to the side as they had been taught, pivoting on his left heel and leaning right. Blocking, to neutralize an attack by taking its full force, was a last resort. Her hand passed his face and he grabbed her wrist with his left hand, pushing his open right hand into her armpit. He pivoted again to make it a throw.

Rei pulled her arms together, adapting a trick Shinji has used on her earlier in the week, to bring them face-to-face. She grabbed him by the robe as they began to fall and used the rotation to end up on top. She kept her weight low, using bent and spread legs to stabilize herself over them, and brought up her hand for the "killing blow" the gesture which would indicate a fatal strike. But it was not to be.

Somehow he had managed to turn beneath her, slithering his body backwards to change the balance. With one hand he pushed from the ground to get her off of his back and with a smooth kick in a low circle, came back to his feet. She returned to her feet as well and he held up one hand, beckoning her to advance with a smile.

Rei admired Shinji. He had killed two angels. She liked him, like her body felt funny sometimes when they were close and not playing at trying to kill each other. She appreciated his presence. But right now she was not happy with him.

They were moving so slow he had time to work on moves three or four steps ahead. Shinji was smart, she figured smarter than her, but he did not work as well under pressure. He improvised when he had time, which this stupid slow sparing was giving him. Full speed, she would have him before he knew what was going on.

I will show him, she thought. She growled and advanced not with a step, but a leap, knife hand raised to strike just below the shoulder pocket, where they had been taught a blow would block the energy to the arm, making it limp for a few minutes.

It was not that she disliked Shinji or resented him. Quite the opposite. Rei wanted Shinji to be strong, and to appear weak to him would make her… what exactly? The thought had puzzled Rei briefly before. To feel like he would not feel about her presence as she did his, yes that was it.

Shinji saw the surprise attack. He saw Rei's sudden burst of speed and the raised knife hand. He knew she would go for the pressure point in the shoulder that could disable his right arm. He did the one thing she would not expect. Shinji used the split second before her arrival to step forward.

In the air, one cannot correct.

Her strike bounced off his collarbone. Not without pain, but hardly disabling. The knife hand to push a nerve cluster was not a bone breaker. As her body collidied with his he wrapped his arms around her abdomen and relaxed the rest of his body, falling with her to the mat. Rei was too worried about shielding her face with her arms to stop Shinji from twisting to make their landing his advantage.

When Rei lowered her arms from her face, she found herself pinned to the ground by Shinji with a fingertip pressed against her neck. The killing blow.

"That's the biz." Shinji said with a smile. "I wasn't expecting that, you okay?"

"Yeah, you?" Rei replied as Shinji got off her.

"Yeah." He answered and reached down to help her up.

As Remo approached, Rei had a feeling she might add physical injuries to those to her pride soon though.

"Oooookay time for some private lessons. Vitali, have a chat with Rei about her behavior if you would. Shinji, come with me." He told the pilots. Both were surprised and looked to each other, shrugged their shoulders, and followed directions.

"So my son, Captain katsuragi tells me you want to visit the forest in the geofront." Remo said as they walked out into the hallway.

"Yes sensei. Um, sensei, is Rei in trouble? I wasn't hurt or anything, honest."

Remo sighed. He walked with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his black slacks, only a white t-shirt over his upper body. His flat-soled shoes slapped the ground as they walked in silence for several minutes. They were nice, Italian leather. He had bought them decades ago for some absurd price with mission funds to spite his cheap boss. They were worn now, had not had a decent shine in years, and it irked Remo most that what he paid for them could barely buy groceries these days.

When Remo finally spoke, Shinji thought his voice sounded weary. "No, she is not in trouble. She reminds me of Vitali when I first met him. Most people, even like you and me, grow up being people. Yeah I have read about what you've been through. I grew up in an orphanage myself; it's no picnic either. But we were raised to be people, human, y'know?"

They came to an elevator and Remo pressed the call button. "Folks like them though, you can see it in their eyes, how they move. Humanity is something they learned later, had to practice. Doesn't make us better than them, ya gotta understand, may make them better than us really."

"What do you mean sensei?" Shinji asked. He meant the question very generally; he did not understand how one could think of Rei as an animal. She was the easiest to understand person he had ever met. Remo took the question very specifically.

"We're all animals my son, just like the ones on four legs. Only difference is a man is too smart to do what he feels like and leave the rest of the world alone." Remo shook his head with a little smile and they got in the elevator. Remo leaned against the back wall, hands still in his pockets. Shinji tried to copy him, but lacking pockets settled for hooking his thumbs into the white belt around his karategi.

"Anyway, I just figured Vitali might have better luck getting through to her than I would. I have some things you and I need to talk about though, just between us." Remo reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pocket-sized book.

"When I looked in your room I noticed you were reading this, so I dug out my old copy." Remo held it up and though the cover was in English, Shinji recognized it as the bhagavad gita. It looked like the same printers had produced it in many languages. The cover art was the same but the book was much smaller.

Shinji nodded. "Y-yeah, this weird guy gave it to me but its really good."

Remo raised an eyebrow. "Weird guy? Weird like how, what did he look like?"

"Um, well he had a shaved head and…" Shinji started.

"Oh, nevermind I know what you mean, those guys are frickin' everywhere."

"Who are they? He just gave me the book and left."

"Hindu inspired new agers, they call themselves the Krishna consciousness movement. Was he chanting?"

"No, just walking."

"Your good fortune, they're annoying."

"So Krishna, like in the story?"

"Yeah, they preach he is like capital G god.

"Capital what?"

"Right, doesn't translate well to Japanese. They say Krishna, the character, is the one supreme god."

"But Krishna is just an avatar of Vishnu and he is one of many, right?"

Good, Remo thought, this is going in the right direction. "Yeah the Hindu's believe that. He is one of their three most senior spirits."

"Right, Brahma creates and Vishnu keeps it safe."

"And?"

"And what, sensei?"

"What about the third one?"

Shinji shrugged and raised a hand to scratch the back of his head. "I haven't gotten that far?"

Remo smiled then reached over and patted the boy on the head. A moment later the elevator opened to the green of the geofront's surface.

"Come on, nice little clearing up here." Remo said and lead Shinji a few hundred yards into the woods to a round clearing with flat stones in the center. He sat down on one such rock with his legs crossed and motioned for Shinji to follow. Shinji found one with a little bit of a bump and sat down in the lotus position.

He had just learned it yesterday and wanted to show he remembered the correct way. The right surface was key, the rear had to be just a little off the ground where the legs rested, lest tension be put on the muscles and the knees be strained.

"Well done, but sit up straight and bring your shoulders forward a little, helps with breathing and posture." Remo said and Shinji obeyed. He felt the difference when he did it right. Remo took his book back out and flipped to a marked page. Shinji was not sure he liked where this was going, he knew what was about that far into his copy, where his page was marked.

"I am all powerful time which destroys all things. Sound familiar?"

Shinji nodded and looked down.

"I saw what you wrote in your book Shinji."

Shinji nodded again.

"You know, a long time ago, my master taught me a battle chant. I guess it came from a prophecy that predicated I would be the first white master of Sinanju. I would teach it to you now, if you would let me."

"O-okay sensei, whatever you want."

"Little bit of education for ya first. Now Vishnu and and Brahma have a third partner. Brahma creates a thing, gives birth to it. Vishnu protects a thing while it exists, preserves it as best he can. But all things age, all things decay, and so all things must pass so that the new may take its place. Sometimes a thing becomes corrupted and works against the rest of creation and needs to be removed. Both are the responsibility…" Remo paused for a moment and looked very closely at Shinji. "Of Shiva."

Shinji's muscles tightened throughout his body then released a split second later. Remo was not sure the boy even realized he did it, but Remo saw.

"That is the purpose the evangelions really, to destroy that which threatens life on earth. Your job is not so different from mine. There are more of you, but you pilots are sent out to confront something nobody else can. Do you understand what I mean Shinji?"

"Yes sensei. We have to kill the angels so others can live. It's not about wanting to fight; it's about preserving life by ending it. You killed bad people so the majority could live in peace."

"That is right. I imagine the evangelions are concentrated within a UN organization for much the same reason my employer worked outside the government it protected. Such power has to be held apart and in the hands of those rare persons worthy to control it and use it right."

Shinji nodded, though he wasn't sure he would call his father the right kind of people.

"Not sure your dad fits the bill?" Remo asked and they laughed together.

"Shinji, when the next angel comes, you won't be defending a city or even a planet. You will be destroying a target, wherever you find it, whatever form it takes. You are not a soldier, you are an assassin. Do you understand the difference?"

"Yes sensei."

"Good. Now like I said, this was sort of a prophecy, so the words may not apply to you personally, but the words are not the important part. We are going to associate the words with bringing your body to peak, understand?"

Shinji nodded.

"Good, now repeat after me…"

Meanwhile, on the combat bridge…

Lt. Makoto Hyuga looked up from his comic to his console.

"Huh, that's weird."

"Whats up?" Asked the man next to him, lt. Shigeru Aoba.

"Not sure, had a weird EM reading from within the geofront. Kinda flickered then disappeared."

"Probably just faulty shielding letting background noise in. Remember we had that one panel that shook every time an elevator passed until it fell off?"

"I guess it could be." Makato said, dubious. He had seen that reading and this looked nothing like it. Whatever the case, it was gone now. Makoto Hyuga went back to his comics.

Back at Sinanju annex NERV…

"Well who are you then?"

Rei shrugged.

Two students of Sinanju sat across from eachother, legs folded in the full lotus. Vitali had asked questions and Rei had mediated, clearing away the clutter of the mind to give the most real of answers. That's what Vitali told her she was doing anyway. Rei was considering trying to sleep sitting up like Shinji did. Vitali had told her about growing up in a cage and being experimented on until he met Remo, and had started asking Rei about how she grew up.

She told him she did not remember, but she knew whose fault that was and was getting better. She had mentioned the quandary over her correct name as well.

"Well I am sure you remember it at some point, gonna keep calling you Rei for now. That work?"

"It is acceptable."

"Good, well I guess we should get down to business then."

"And that is?"

"Well Rei, you need to calm the hell down."

Rei ayanami considered for a moment before opening her eyes. She was very nearly completely sure that nobody in her life had ever said those words to her.

"What makes you think I am not calm, Vitali-sensei?"

"Don't bullshit me, I know whats going on. Outside you're all blank and albino and mysterioussssss." Vitali held up his hands and wiggled his fingers as he stretched out that final word. "Bit snarky the last few days too, not sure if you were like that when we got here though. Anyway, inside, you are as nervous as a mouse hauling an elephant."

"That is an interesting simile Vitali-sensei."

"Well you would be nervous if you were the mouse.."

"I suppose."

"Point is, I see the way you look at everything and everyone, 'cept Shinji."

"we are-" She started before Vitali raised a hand, gesturing for silence.

"Uh uh uh, we will get to that. Everything else comes first. I know what you are thinking, its all possibly out to get you. The walls, the doors, the people, everything."

Rei said nothing.

"Someone really did a number on you and you don't want it to happen again, right?"

Rei did not respond.

"Well, newsflash, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AFRAID ANYMORE! Anybody who tries to get you has the bitch of Sinanju to deal with now, and that's if they don't meet up with master Remo, me, or your boyfriend first! Far as I am concerned, Remo's my dad, you're my sister, and I am willing to ignore the creepy brother sister thing you and Shinji got going on. Nobody messes with this family and gets away with it."

"The bitch of Sinanju?"

"Well you are the only girl."

Rei did not dignify that with a response for some time.

"He is not my boyfriend, he has not-"

"Bullshit."

"I was going to say he has not made any declaration of-"

"Bullshit."

"… Interest. While I admit I do have feelings regarding Ikari-san I-."

"Bull-, oh wait no you were on the right track that time, do continue."

"Thank you Sensei." Rei said, getting irritated. "As I was saying, we are alike, we are pilots of eva, but beyond that I don't know."

"Bullshit." He said with a singsong voice, stretching out the fouls like some demented fourth grader.

"Will you stop that!" Rei snapped and was surprised when Vitali smiled. That weird smile where he looked like he had something elses teeth in his mouth. Like a lion or a shark. "Besides, you are always the one interrupting every good moment!"

"So you admit they are moments then?"

"Yes!"

"Good."

"Good!? Where are you even going with this?"

"What do you feel when you think about all the stuff out there trying to hurt you?"

"Anger!"

"Fear, anger is a reaction to fear. You afraid of Shinji?"

"No."

"What do you feel about him then?"

"I like his presence, I dislike being separated from it."

"So you like him?"

Rei stopped to think. To desire to be around him because she enjoyed it was to desire him, was it not? "Yes, I like him."

"Good, now you know something besides fear. Now you can stop living like a damn animal."

"What?"

"Animals, no matter how big and strong, always live in fear. Fear of going hungry, fear of being hunted, fear of competition, that sort of thing.

Rei was so lost. She liked Shinji, she got that. She was not sure how anything else Vitali said was supposed to make sense. She sat and smiled and nodded along while he continued. When Sensei began talking about her love being a drill to pierce through her anxieties, Rei decided now was the time to try sleeping sitting up.

She liked the hunter of angels, which was good.

In the forest of the geofront…

Shinji breathed in slow, measured breaths. Remo had been teaching him how to bring his body to what Remo called peak. He had explained peak was the greatest performance he could pull from his body at a given moment. Eventually he would live at peak for days or weeks at a time, but for now he would learn to enter it for a moment.

"Alright Shinji, for real this time. Begin."

"I am created..." Faster breaths, increase oxygen flow.

"… Shiva…" Total awareness of his body's position.

"… The destroyer…" Expanding his presence, feeling the world around him. The sounds, the smells, the air pressure telling him what is beyond his eyes.

"… the earth shatterer…" There is nothing but the here and now. He is a creature of the moment. Each shallow breath feels like an eternity.

"The dead night tiger made whole by the master of Sinanju." His brain was in high gear now, his total knowledge, small as it was, of what he had learned so far was open to him. Shinji thought he could feel his blood moving in his veins.

"Who is this dogmeat that challenges me?" Confidence, not arrogance. Convince himself that he will triumph over any obstacle and half the work is done. Shinji imagined himself accessing the full power of what Vasuki had told him he was. Power to stop the angels, to save everyone. Power with which he would never have to fear anything again.

To feel fear was to admit defeat. Fear had hounded Shinji Ikari. He was Shiva, the destroyer, the earth shatterer. He knew no fear.

"Huh, there it is again."

"EM anomaly in the geofront?"

"Yeah."

Shigeru Aoba shrugged. "Log it and we can check it out on the next maintenance cycle."

"Yeah sure… I think I got a better look at it this time." Makoto said as he rewound the sensor data and isolated the flickering signal.

Shinji and Remo returned to the practice quarters and found Rei meditating while Vitali strode about the room, screaming nonsense to the ceiling.

"Oh great he is at it again." Remo said, his fingers rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"At what sensei?"

"DON'T BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, DAUGHTER OF SINANJU! BELIEVE IN THE SENSEI THAT BELIEVES IN YOU!"

"I think he was brain damaged as a kid or something, he gets on these rants about… something. He is usually too incoherent to make sense of. Hey Vitali, stow it!"

Pulled from his revelations, Vitali turned and waved. "Oh hey Ssem! Rei's feeling better now!"

"Great. Food, striking practice and bed for the pilots. Long day tomorrow, I want to test them and Dr. Akagi wants to map their muscle impulses."

As the instructors headed into the little caterer's kitchen they had in the dojo, Shinji went over to Rei, who was still sitting in the middle of one of the mats, meditating.

"Hey Ayanami-san, its time to eat." Shinji said, and got no reaction.

"Uh, Ayanami?" Still nothing.

"Ayanami-san, did you hear me?" Shinji stepped closer and spoke louder but still nothing. He reached over and gently poked her shoulder. Rei topped over onto her back, her arms spread out to the side. Thus jostled, her mouth opened and she began to snore.

From the kitchen, Shinji could hear Remo say. "Well Vitali, I never thought it possible. Leave it to you to shout someone to sleep!"

"My enthusiasm for her good mental health helped her towards inner peace!"

After rousing Rei, they ate. Same rich soup, which anywhere else would be rightfully called more of a mous than a soup, but none of the smelly tea. If they were going to sleep through the night for the first time in weeks, they didn't need to wake up hungry in the middle of it.

After what was light practice in comparison to what they had been doing the last four days, the kids were released to their own devices. So long as said devices were in this room, did not involve intense physical activity, and did not include, as Vitali put it: "Defiling the sanctity of the Sinanju annex". For the first time, they were left alone, Remo and Vitali gone to do something else, they did not say.

This left talking, something they had had little time for recently. Of course apart from the toilet and brief, cold, showers, they had not been apart until today. The topic of the conversation was thus…

"So what did you and Vitali-sensei talk about?" Shinji asked. He and Rei were sitting with their backs against the wall in "their" corner, a space between two crates they had claimed for sleeping. Each sat with their legs bent in front of them, arms resting across their knees.

"Fear, love, piercing the heavens whatever that means." Rei replied and giggled. "Sensei said I am afraid of everything, and that's why I feel angry a lot, cause anger is just a reaction to fear. He also said we are like a family. Master Remo is our father, and Vitali is like our big brother. So I don't have to be afraid because even if we can't protect each other, I have Sinanju now and I can protect myself." Rei considered telling him about the other topic of conversation, but nerves prevented her. "Then he started talking about confidence and drills and it got confusing. That's when I fell asleep.

Shinji thought to tell Rei he did not think of her as being angry, but then thought of his own anger. He was angry a lot but he only let it out when he was pushed. Rei had been on all those meds and shinji guessed she did look pretty mad when she lunged at him earlier.

"What did you and Remo-sensei discuss?"

"Religion, peak performance. Sensei taught me a technique for getting peak performance from the body. He told me I might be able to do it for a few minutes now, but eventually I could stay there for days or weeks. Pretty cool, huh?"

Rei nodded, smiling. "How does it work?"

"Well first sensei had me memorize this chant, then we did these breathing exercises to force more oxygen into the blood and more blood into the brain…"

"Dammit, now it's just getting worse."

"More EM interference?"

"Yeah. I thought it had a pattern last time but its just jumbled noise again. That's it, I am reporting this to Dr. Akagi, we need to diagnostic the internal sensors."

Rei and Shinji sat facing eachother, breathing and speaking in sync.

"I am created, the destroyer, the earth shatterer, the dead night tiger made whole by the master of Sinanju. Who is this dogmeat that challenges me?"

It was the third time they had tried it. The first time Rei said she had not felt anything. The second time they did it together, slowly, and Rei said she heard her own blood for just a second. This time they made sure to keep breathing right and held it longer. They both agreed it was probably about two minutes. There were no clocks or watches here, so of course they didn't know it was less than ten seconds, but progress was progress. They both felt too exhausted afterwards to have not accomplished anything.

"Hunter."

"Yeah?"

"C-can I ask you something?"

"Can I ask you something first?"

"Of course."

"Why hunter?"

"You are the hunter of angels. The only person on the planet to kill not just one, but two. The first one in Antarctica doesn't count, that was an accident."

"Hunter of angels, huh? Makes me sound like a hero."

"You are."

"I don't think anyone thinks of me as a hero, Ayanami-san."

"I do."

Shinji had one of those moments. Those moments when one's brain is going along minding its own business, and someone goes and says something so unexpected the screeching halt the mind comes to is seemingly audible.

"Can I ask my question now, Ikari-san?" Rei asked. The new exercise had given her enough gall to overcome her nerves for the moment. If she didn't get it out now she doubted she would. They would go back to school after tomorrow, and if she didn't ask now someone else might and if they did he might say yes and then she couldn't do anything when they _took him from her_. Just like they took everything else that made her happy. Just like they took her name, just like they took her memories.

"Of course Ayanami-san, I am sorry I made you listen to me first. You can call me Shinji you know, we are friends."

Friends. What if that's all he wanted to be. Friends. Stop it stop it stop it, If you don't ask he can never agree.

"Okay, b-but only if you'll call me Rei. So, um, I mean it is probably silly and I am sure someone has asked before and you might even have one where you lived before and I shouldn't even ask I mean its rude we've only known each other a couple weeks and and and." Rei stopped and forced herself to take a deep breath.

"Rei, you okay?"

"Okay? Yes, you said okay, wait I still have to ask okay here goes." She said, totally failing to stay calm. She stopped again, took another nice long breath, then another, then spoke.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

Shinji's brain would have come to a screetching halt again had it had any chance to build up speed after the last time. Rei was worried he was silently showing disdain, and then realized he wasn't doing anything, including breathing. When she reached over and touched his hand, he jolted and came back to life.

"What? Yes, No, no, yeah, no I don't have a girlfriend. Un-n-nless you know y-y-you wa-wa-want to I mean you know if-." Shinji had never been good at not talking himself into a ditch when nervous and it took Rei picking up his hand in hers and holding his palm to her lips to get him to shut up.

She kissed it then said: "If Shiva the destroyer would have me, yes, I would like to."

Shinji Ikari was absolutely terrified. He was not scared of as many things anymore. Living with a bird tends to releave fear of sudden movements. And with Sinanju he supposed he wasn't going to be afraid of bullies anymore. But that still left a lot to be afraid of. Including pretty girls asking him serious questions.

Shiva the destroyer knew no fear.

Iamcreatedshivathedestroyertheearthshattererthedeadnighttigermadewholebythemasterofsinanjuwhoisthisdogmeatthatchallengesme.

"Yes." He responded. It was a stupid thing to work up the nerve to say it. Shinji knew it. It was not that he didn't want to say yes, just he couldn't imagine saying yes. He hadn't even done the exercise, just thinking the words had given him the momentary boost of confidence.

"Good." Rei smiled like Shinji had not seen her do before. It was big, warm, and genuine. She scooted closer to him so they were pressed shoulder to shoulder. Sitting on the ground their difference in height was barely noticeable.

"Um, Rei?"

"Yes, hunter?"

"Have you ever had a boyfriend before?"

"No, have you previously taken a girlfriend?"

"No… I don't know what couples do, besides, you know spend time together and be romantic and stuff. I don't even know really what that means either."

Rei shrugged, still smiling. "Me neither. I think it just means we are partners, together against the world, that sort of thing. We'll figure it out I guess."

"Yeah."

A full nights sleep, peaceful and restful, was what they needed. They fell asleep, leaning against eachother, backs to the wall.

**Well done my lord.**

Shinji found himself back in the grassy courtyard in the forest, surrounded by stone ruins and looking at a snake sitting cross-tailed. He wasn't sure if that was a word, but it perfectly described how the naga in front of him had positioned himself. Coiled in a figure eight with his head rising from the intersection. He had chosen to keep his slightly smaller form, a mere eight or nine feet long best as Shinji could tell.

"So I am Shiva?"

"An incarnation, so yes and no. You are Shinji Ikari. You had a human mother and father. You may live, love, have children, age and yes, die. In the material world you are a human being with human needs and human faults. Spiritually though, your soul is that of a deva. You are resistant to the trappings of samsara, though not immune. You have kept your affinity for those things within your influence. So long as you keep to your dharma, your purpose in both this life and your life as a deva, your body will be blessed and you will learn and grow faster than any normal human."

"Okay, so what should I do now?" Shinji asked.

"Just keep doing what you are doing. You chose to incarnate to be where you are now. Your chariot is a good tool and Remo is an excellent master to learn from. Spiritually, you are a good person, but you are holding onto your pain, as man is want to do, and that will hold you back from reaching your potential."

"So pilot eva, learn from Remo-sensei, and try to be good?"

"In a mongoose skull, yes." Vasuki responded.

Shinji stared at the serpent for some time. "In a what?" He finally said.

"Mongoose skull, my people don't like mongooses. Mongoose is stupid, so there is not much room in its skull. The phrase means to have said something in a concise and clear way."

"In a nutshell."

"Do nuts hunt your people, my lord?"

Shinji couldn't resist "Only the ones that walk on two legs."

"Your wit is as sharp as ever my lord, perhaps you can debate this new enemy into submission. However just in case that doesn't work, I have something to teach you. Your hand if you please."

Shinji held out his right hand and the serpent slithered up, coiling himself around the length of his arm. His length was such that he covered it twice over, both his head and tail at Shinji's hand. Shinji felt no extra weight, but attributed it to this not being truly real anyway.

"Right, now if you would stand, very good. I have been watching what I can of your training and I think I might be able to improve your knife hand a bit. Strike out with this arm please."

"Sure you are not going to, I dunno, fall off or something?"

"I assure you I have a quite strong grip. Now the knife hand, if you would."

Shinji struck out at the air, Vasuki's head bobbing as his hand recoiled back.

"Ah now I feel where the problem is. The eye tells so little, but to feel tells so much. Again please, but do it twice this time."

Shinji complied, thrusting out, cocking his arm back, then striking out again.

"See how you delay between strikes?"

"Well I can't pull my arm back any faster."

"Why would you? Let the naga king show you how the serpent strike should be done. You just worry about the rest of your body, I will move your arm."

Shinji felt his hand lash out at an imaginary target, and instead of coming back, dart straight to another.

"But I am being tested on the knife hand, not the serpent strike, Remo-sensei hasn't told us about anything like that."

"Ah to be human…" Vasuki said as he shot shinji's arm out again, as if picking prey from the sky. "… to assume all of man's knowledge and artifice comes from man himself. Sinanju comes from knowledge from before men had knives. This is the serpent strike in its purest form."

Shinji could feel the naga clench tighter around his arm, but as he lashed out again like some martial puppet, he felt the individual muscles that made up the movement.

"Its power does not rely on distance, it relies on the speed and precision of it. When the serpent bites, it cannot recoil back, lest the venom not takes or there is not enough. The strike is deadly at the head, and so only the head need move."

Shinji began to move himself along with the naga coiled about his arm. Instead of standing still, Shinji moved them about the courtyard, striking down imaginary foes.

"I am created!" Shinji called out, thrusting the strike out even faster than Vasuki had compelled him to.

"Uh, my lord…"

"Shiva, the destroyer!" Shinji struck out again, imagining the strike tearing through the red heart of Sachiel, his first angel kill. Vasuki had loosened his grip. He must have trouble keeping up, Shinji thought as he struck lightening fast.

"The dead night tiger, made whole by the master of Sinanju!" Shinji held his arms over his head and called to the sky. At the far end of the courtyard, Shinji saw a broken stone pillar with a crack down the center. He got it now, that the knife was meant for a single, deadly strike at the weakest point. He began to run towards the pillar.

"Shinji, you've got it, that's enough!" Vasuki said, but Shinji did not hear. Who was Shinji, he was the destroyer.

"Oh, bother." The naga groaned as he realized what Shinji meant to do, releasing the boy's arm and jumping off him as quickly as he could

Shinji screamed as he slammed the knife hand strike into long crack that divided the pillar. There was a loud bang and clouds of dust as air and debris burst out of the crevices of the ruin, then a rumble and crash as one side first slid off, then tumbled to the ground.

Shinji stood in place, scrawny legs as pillars into the ground, strong arm thrust straight forward with two fingers extended in the knife hand, his left arm tucked beside his ribs. His breathing was heavy and ragged in the dust filled air as it turned into a laugh.

"That… that was awesoooooome…" He said and promptly onto his ass.

Vasuki slithered over and Shinji turned his head to look at the naga, his chest rising and falling in deep, hungry, breathes.

"I should point out my lord, I had only meant to refine your technique."

Shinji turned his head to look at the serpent. "Of course, of course."

"As such, you really should not blame me when you are going to awake unrested."

"Oh no, my bad, I understand."

"Excellent, now lets work on the left arm."

Shinji groaned and rolled over away from Vasuki. Caught between crazy Americans during the day and stupid magical snakes at night.

Shinji had been hoping, especially after his dream, that perhaps he could just sleep until someone woke him up. But no, at what Shinji knew was just about 0600 just by feel, he ceased to sleep and opened his eyes. He turned his head and found Rei asleep, sitting up next to him, her head on his shoulder.

That was nice. This wasn't a bad morning.

Shinji did not want to wake her and just tried to work on his breathing where he sat. Drawing the breath all the way in, down to the groin, filling his lungs completely. Rei woke up having matched her breathing to his.

"Good morning, hunter." She said before she yawned with her arms stretched above her head. "Did you sleep well?"

"Lots of dreams." Shinji replied as he stood.

"Hm. I don't remember that. Maybe again soon." Rei held out one hand. Shinji grasped her by the wrist and she pulled herself up.

"You don't dream?" He asked.

"Not for the past several years. You know." Rei said with a somewhat sheepish nod.

"Y-yeah, I know."

"Do you feel you are ready for today?"

"Y-yeah actually. More than I did last night. I dreamed about practicing."

"A fascinating way to increase the time available to perfect your skill. Did you realize any improvement?"

"I think so yeah."

"I shall have to try it."

Rei helped Shinji change his bandages before they began stretches. By the time their instructor's returned they were just finishing.

Around the same time, on the bridge…

"Mornin' Makoto." Lt. Shigeru Aoba said as he placed a hot cup of coffee in front of his bespectacled comrade.

"Hey thanks." Makoto said and took off his glasses to rub his eyes.

"Late night last night?"

"Yeah I reported that anomaly to Dr. Akagi and she had me go check all the sensors in both sectors where I saw it. All 360 of them."

"Don't those diagnostics take like 5 minutes each?"

"Yeah but I took a few laptops with me. Had them going staggered out so by the time I had finished setting up the last PC, there was one done and ready to move up."

"Sounds like a lot of work."

"It was." Makoto said between long sips of coffee. "Real bitch was everything checked out fine. So its either the shielding or something weird going on."

"Shoddy construction or weird shit. In this place no way to tell which is more likely."

"Yeah well I isolated a pattern from the readings yesterday and put it in the database, so it will get tagged if it pops up again."

Sinanju Annex…

"Alright, here is how this is going to go. First thing I want to see are your strikes. One perfect knife, mace, and spear." Remo said as Vitali placed wooden blocks on the same stands Remo had demonstrated each attack on their five days previous.

"You're going to do them at the same time, no doing better just because you watched me chew out the other."

"Yes Sensei!" The pilots responded together.

Bridge…

"Huh…"

"Whats up, Ibuki?"

"Weird EM reading, but its in the system."

"Oh yeah I saw that yesterday, thought it might be a sensor fault but they all checked out. Aoba thinks it may be faulty shielding."

Shinji and breathed in sync and began the cadence in their thoughts. They had not spoken about it since last night, but they had the same intention. They were Japanese after all, why not use this new technique to show their best on their first exam with their new teacher?

They each stood in front of a block, hands at their sides, feet relaxed. Together, they each moved their strong side foot forward and raised their hands.

_I am created…_

Bridge…

"Woah, that's way stronger than it was yesterday, and its not going away. Can you pinpoint it Maya?" Makoto had rolled his chair over to her station and Shigeru stood behind them, looking over Maya's shoulder.

"Yeah give me a sec, just hope it keeps going." Maya Ibuki said as her lightening fast keystrokes inputted commands to the computer. "Bringing in MAGI processes to speed up triangulation."

Annex…

Remo had expected Shinji to this, but Rei had matched his breathing. Oh shit, he thought, I should have known he would tell her. Well Vitali had said she seemed better after they had left them to sleep last night. Worst that can happen is she passes out from hyperventilating or throws out her shoulder swinging too hard.

"Okay you two, on your marks…"

Both children raised their strong hand, two fingers extended with the ring and pinky clenched back with the thumb. Their arms looked like snakes poised for the bite. Shinji's form was looking a lot better, Remo thought.

_Shiva, the destroyer…_

Bridge…

"Okay, sublevel 73, sector 4. That's all gross storage down there… Hey that's looks like… no way!"

"What, what is it Maya?"

"What are you three so excited about this early?" Asked Misato Katsuragi. She had just arrived and seeing all three of the bridge lieutenants crowded around one console had piqued her interest even before her second cup of coffee.

Annex…

In perfect synchronicity, the newest students of the most ancient martial art lashed out.

Bridge…

"That's an AT field!"

"WHAT?!" Two bridge techs and a captain's coffee went flying as a very confused doctor stepped into the room.

Annex…

Shinji's fingertips found the weakest link in the grain of the pine block. Fibers ripped and wood creaked as his attack split the wood along its own dry flesh. The two halves of the block, split vertically, were kicked to the side as the thicker flesh of his hand and wrist passed between them.

Rei's attack punched into the wood, tearing apart the grain before it. Wood did not get pushed aside, it was obliterated in her path. As her hand pushed out the other side, the section cleaved off with splintered edge popped into the air.

Bridge…

The main lights shut off with an audible click and red hazard lights came on in their place. Sirens sounded as automatic systems switched the displays and consoles to show battle information and the status of the city.

"What the-"

On every screen and console were overlaid the same words.

BLUE PATTERN DETECTED

"I have the location, it's the same signal! Sublevel 73, sector 4, storage room 7, it's the dojo!"

"Oh shit, the kids. Lt. Makoto, get at least two armed response teams to meet me there and whoever else you can find, NOW!" Misato said and pulled her gun from her shoulder holster as she ran out the door.

Back at the annex…

Remo inspected his students' work, pacing back and forth with his hand grasping his chin in what he was sure looked like a very thoughtful way.

Rei's work had been exactly what he wanted from the students at this point. Not perfect, shameful for a master to have done, but showing a grasp of the basics as they had been taught.

Now Shinji's had been goddamn flawless. Remo thought he would have felt like a better teacher, if he thought he had taught him that well. He had hit a guy like that once, right in the sternum. The result reminded Remo of stories about Viking blood eagles. The hit hadn't killed him, his own ribs impaling the contents of his cardio-theracic cavity had. What bothered Remo was that wasn't how he had taught them so far, and definitely wasn't how he had demonstrated.

Both kids were a little unsteady on their feet, they look like they just finished a marathon. Which would have been amazing in and of itself with how out of shape they were. Neither was at all fat, they just lacked endurance. Only the high calorie diet and the digestive tea had been keeping them going.

Further consideration was put on hold when the sliding door that was the room's only entrance was blown into the room so hard it knocked a pot off the stove at the far end.

"Ack, my borscht!" Was Vitali's totally inadequate response as dozens of armed men streamed into the room, submachineguns raised and tracking left and right. Shouts of clear rippled through the mass of black clad, belaclava'd troopers after several minutes. Captain Katsuragi, still in her black dress and red jacket but with a black vest strapped over her torso strode to the front, phone to her ear.

""What do you mean its gone?!"

"Captain, I hope I have not been so rude that you thought this was necessary to visit the pilots." Remo said as he walked up to her, hands in the pockets of his khaki slacks. Misato shot him a look before confirming there nothing on sensors and flipping her phone shut."

"Mr. Williams, there was evidence of AT field activity AND a blue pattern detected in this room, care to explain that?"

"A what?"

Misato slumped so hard she nearly fell over. Great, he didn't know and now he would probably demand to be told.

"Evidence of an angel, Remo."

"That so? Tell you what, you get a few of these goons…." Remo looked over the collected mass of soldiers, several of whom had apparently objected to being called goons or thought he said something else. "Oh did I say goons, I meant these nice young boys, out of here, and I will show you what we were doing."

Misato looked to Rei and Shinji, who if anything looked annoyed their lessons had been interrupted. When Rei started stretching, a jumpy soldier made the mistake of raising his weapon to her. The poor guy's sergent was the one to pull the gun down and smack him upside the head.

Misato sighed and palmed her face as she shook her head. This looked like shit, she was embarrassed.

"Okay, you…" Misato pointed to a spot about halfway through the crowd of NERV troops"… And everyone behind you, back out in the hall."

"Thank you Captain, I wouldn't want the kids to fall to performance anxiety, not that it has ever been a problem for me of course."

"Uuuuuh huh, get on with it, Remo." Misato said, arms crossed over her chest now that her pistol was holstered.

"And I always thought it was the women who enjoyed the talking beforehand." Remo quipped then picked up two more wooden blocks and put them on the stands. "Hey Shinji, lookin' a little woozie there, up for another go?"

"Y-yeah Sensei, I'm good."

"Alright, get centered, just like we talked about. Yeah I saw you do it, its alright."

Shinji nodded and started his breathing again. Vasuki had been helpful, but that had been exhausting the first time. It felt like doing it right took so much more effort than doing it wrong. When he felt like he could hear his blood and the room was pulsing around him, he nodded.

Remo's hand was like lightening as he swatted the block off its platform and towards Shinji. In this state though, the boy saw it coming and struck out with his coiled arm. He imagined his hand like the head of a snake, fangs bared, seeking the weakest part of his target. As the block tumbled he thrust his fingers into the short end, splitting it along the grain from end to end. With an orange flash of light, the two halves spun off to opposite sides of the room, one soldier ducking a piece flying his way.

Misato's phone rung as everyone in the room but Remo, Shinji included, stood with slack jaws. There was utter silence, broken by a few muttered curses, before Misato's phone rang again. She looked down at it with jaw still hanging before answering.

"Yeah?... Yeah found out what it was… No, no angel. Tell Dr. Akagi to get down here, inform Commander Ikari too, he is going to want to see this." She said then hung up.

"See what Misato? What is dad going to want to see?" Shinji asked, swaying on his feet.

"Shinji… that was an AT field. Its how the angels do impossible things like being huge and those weird tentacles the last one had."

"Oh… okay." He responded before collapsing where he stood.

end

Woohoo, longest chapter yet!

I feel like this might be a little divisive, just different content. I promise to never do that rapid scene switching thing again. I have this habit of wanting to write like I imagine the action would be filmed, leading to things like where it is awkward to read.

I know it looks like Shinji is suddenly overpowered, but that's not what I am going for. Next chapter we will see why just because he can do something like that, its not an end all be all. Passing out from exhaustion after doing it twice is one such reason. "Being good" in this context is trying for enlightenment, something even the mentally healthy are unlikely to do. What he did won't be more than a parlor trick until he can start getting over his issues and while he has some advantages, Shiva's plan to save the world has a pretty serious setback with not even really getting started until he was 14. And , y'know, being Shinji Ikari.


	15. Chapter 15

Boom, second week of double updates. Adjusted work schedule gave me more time to fill.

All relationship stuff this chapter, so if you have been enjoying that side of thing this one is for you.

Warnings: Hooo boy. This chapter may affect you negatively if: You have been disturbed by previous discussion of Shinji's issues, you have been disturbed by discussion of Rei's issues, fear of doctors/hospitals, you dislike people raising their voice.

Chapter 15

Remo, Misato, and Ritsuko, along with the commander and vice commander, sat in the main conference room. As normal, the room was dark but for the lights that shone straight down on the table and those sitting at it. Remo figured this was the home of all the meetings the captain griped about.

Gendo cleared his throat, bringing the room to attention.

"Dr. Akagi, please begin, what exactly have we seen here?"

"Thank you commander. This appears to be the first case of a human being projecting a stable AT field. Previous research, of which Mr. Williams was a part, indicated it was possible for humans to manipulate their own natural EM field, but this is the first time that has coalesced into an AT field like we see with the angels."

"And can we confirm that this is the result of Mr. Williams' instruction, and not some kind of angel infiltration, or an infection by an angel in the form of a microorganism?"

"Yes Commander, I conducted the examination myself, there are no indicators of angel genetic material."

"And the third child's collapse?"

"By all indications, the result of acute hunger and exhaustion. Given evidence that both pilots had eaten before the event, I would theorize that whatever occurred took a great deal of energy from the Shinji's body."

"I see."

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, I know I should wait my turn, but I have to throw this out. Gendo, why do you keep calling him the third child? He is your goddamn son."

"Because Mr. Williams, I know how to separate my emotions from my work. Where is the third child now?"

"We have him on nutrient fluids in NERV medical, he has yet to regain consciousness."

"And Rei?"

"The first child is with him, she was quite concerned with his health."

"Hmmm, are you sure that is safe? Mr Williams, would the first child be able to defend herself if the third child awoke and became violent?"

"Are you asking if it is going to happen or who would win if they got in a fight?"

"If you begin taking this seriously Mr. Williams, I mean if the third child becomes a danger, is it safe for Rei to be around him?"

"Commander, they are night tigers, students of Sinanju. If they become violent, it's not safe for anyone to be around them. I don't think Shinji would attack Rei, but if he did then yes, I think Rei would be in more danger than Shinji. Only because if he attacked her, it would mean he no longer had regard for her safety and she might still have some for him."

"Thank you. Captain Katsuragi, see that Rei is retrieved from NERV medical and armed guards are posted in the third child's room."

Remo interrupted before Misato could response. "Yeeaah, now that would be a reaaaaaal bad idea."

"Mr. Williams, I did not ask for your opinion."

"I noticed. See the way Rei was acting, she really wants to be there with him. I mean she hasn't left his side, at all, since he went down. I don't think she would react well to being asked to leave. In fact, didn't you try that Doctor? Why don't you tell the class how that worked out, please share."

"When I asked the first child to leave while I examined Shinji… well Commander, I meant to speak to you about this in private, but she growled at me."

"See what I mean? Bad idea to make her leave. Besides, the way Vitali tells me, she has got a little bit of thing for your son, Commander."

"… A thing, Mr. Williams?"

"Yeah, she likes him."

"I see, I will have to speak to her about that."

"Hey don't worry about it, Rei's a nice girl."

"It is not Rei I am concerned about Mr. Williams… Moving on, Captain, I would like to discuss the response time of your armed unit…"

Shinji Ikari awoke to a quite familiar ceiling. He wondered if they just kept putting him in the same room at NERV medical for a reason. Maybe they always kept a room set aside for a pilot, just in case. Maybe they were never busy and this was the first room available. In any case, it was the same room he had spent time in on two prior occasions and he kind of expected that nice nurse to walk in at any moment with more answers that weren't really answers.

"You are awake."

Shinji was much more pleased to look over and see Rei sitting beside his bed. She was still wearing her white karategi. He looked down at himself to find he was wearing only bandages on his upper body, but it felt like he still had his pants on.

"Yeah… what happened?" Shinji said, his mind awake but his body still catching up.

"What was the last thing you recall? I will begin there."

"Misato said I made something like an angel."

"I see. Misato said your demonstration was an AT field. I assume that's what that orange light was."

"What orange light?"

Rei shrugged. "When you hit that piece of wood Sensei threw at you, there was an orange light."

"Huh." Shinji said and looked up at the ceiling. When Rei got up he didn't really notice. He very much noticed when she leaned over the bed and kissed his forehead.

"W-wa-wa" Was the result of his attempt to comment on the matter. Rei sat down on the bed next to him and places her bandaged hand over his. She smiled down at him and he smiled back.

"I am glad you are okay. I believe that was a correct way for one to communicate that to one's boyfriend."

Shinji opened and closed his mouth a few times, making sounds like a fish for his first few attempts to speak. Eventually he summoned the air for:

"I am okay with that."

"I also find it agreeable." Rei replied. He was okay, she was happy.

Shinji reached across his body with his free hand, not wanting to let go of Rei's, and hit the call button. She cocked her head at him.

"They'll want to know I am awake. I'm kind of hungry too."

"Okay."

A nurse, dressed in typical modern blue scrubs quickly came and told them he would inform Dr. Akagi he was awake. He did not respond to a request for food before he left. Shinji saw Rei tense at the mention of the doctor. It was not something he would normally have noticed, thought Shinji, but spending nearly a week together attunes one's senses.

"Don't like doctors?" Shinji asked.

"I do not like one doctor. I give the rest of the profession the benefit of the doubt." Rei said. "I do not like her, I do not like her near you." She very nearly snarled out.

"Why?"

"She _takes_ things. With her pills, and her needles…" Rei looked down. "And her knives."

Shinji thought she was just looking to the floor, but Rei was looking to her abdomen beneath her robes. Just above her hips where a thin curved scar crossed below her belly button. She turned back to look at Shinji.

"Promise you will not trust her. She lies and tells you she wants to help, but she doesn't want to help. She just wants to control you." Shinji had never seen Rei this upset. Sure she had looked angry sometimes during practice, but that's just practice, yelling and stuff just motivated the body. She was squeezing his hand enough to hurt now, even with his injuries.

"Promise…"

"Rei, hey, calm down, okay? I promise, I won't trust her." Shinji did his best to sound calm and even soothing. He didn't like seeing Rei like this. "Okay? I promise."

Rei nodded quickly, bitting her lip. That damned doctor was not going to keep taking from her. She would kill her before she allowed her to take her senses away again, to put her back in the fog. Things had finally started to become clearer now. She remembered what Dr. Akagi had done. She remembered the other Dr. Akagi, the bitch's mother, was involved. She still didn't remember why it happened, why they put her in the fog. She was still working on that.

"Rei, they are probably going to be back soon, and I guess you don't want to talk about to anyone else, right?"

Rei nodded.

"Promise you will tell me what happened, when we are alone again?"

Rei nodded again. "I promise."

They were silent for a while; just holding hands and looking at each other, as teens are want to do. Rei broke the silence.

"This will be difficult. Perhaps I should not be your girlfriend, it will not be pleasant for you."

"What?! No no Rei, I… I have things I don't want to talk about to anybody either. I think I want to talk about them with you though. I want you to be my girlfriend, okay?

"I-I want you to be my boyfriend too."

"Okay then, whatever we need to talk about, to work out, we'll do it together, with eachother, okay?"

"Yes… I would like that."

"Maybe that's what boyfriends and girlfriends do, huh?"

"Yes, perhaps it is."

It was one of those moments. Were this a film, violins would be playing, the lights would be somewhat dimmer, and someone, somewhere would be judging for rating this among the best kisses of all time. What it would lack in skill, it would make up for in the passion of young love. Though both were tired and filthy from a week of intense exercise, future persons portraying this moment would be have perfect hair and make-up, and probably be about eight years older and possibly taller. Also, in such a portrayal, that kiss would have actually happened.

Rei had in fact leaned down to the point her short bangs were just above Shinji's head when they heard the light sound of pressure being applied upon a spring within the door handle. It was due in no small part to their synchronicity after the last five days that neither was hurt in the flurry of white cloth that followed.

Misato opened the door and was followed by Ritsuko. Misato thought it was so cute the way Rei had moved the chair right up next to the bed and had her hand over Shinji's. The way she was smiling at him, Misato couldn't imagine why her friend did not like Rei. She was even sure all those horrible things Ritsuko said Rei did had to have been accident or mislayed blame. At worst, she had done them and had gotten better now. Rei could have left, gotten cleaned up, gotten food god knows she was probably starving right now. But no, she had stayed with him the whole time. The growling thing was probably just crying and Ritsuko had misinterpreted.

"Hey kids!"

"Hello Captain Katsuragi, Dr. Akagi"

"Oh, hello doctor. You didn't have to come see me Misato, I'm doing fine."

"Fine indeed, how are you feeling Shinji?" Dr. Ikagi asked as she checked the bag of fluids. She faced the bed as she did so, quite determined not to turn her back on the first child.

"Good, little tired, kind of hungry to be honest. How long was I asleep?"

"About five hours."

"Rei never left your side the whole time." Misato said cheerfully. Oh these two would be a cute couple, she thought. Two little introverts find love in their own specialness.

Indeed, thought Dr. Akagi. It had been quite the experience getting a blood sample. The first child was quite anxious around needles, a trait she must have aquired of late. Ritsuko had made sure it was in her report to the commander.

"Can we go back to training now?" Rei asked. She was sure to meet Dr. Akagi's eyes when she turned to look at her. The blond turned away as soon as their eyes met. That's right witch, I know your game, and I am not in your fog anymore. Rei had nearly laughed when she growled at the bitch and she jumped earlier.

"Ahem, well under the circumstances, Mr. Williams has decided you both need to rest."

"Remo was really pleased with you both, don't worry."

Both smiled when Misato relayed praise from their teacher.

"So what about it Shinji, home and a good meal, even get to sleep in your own bed?"

"Home would be nice Misato. Uum, could Rei come too?"

"Oh sure, you still have things at the apartment, don't you Rei?"

"Yes Captain."

"Well Rits, can he get out of here?"

Ritsuko checked the bag one last time then clamped the feed before she pulled the IV from his arm. "Mr. Ikari, I want you to drink plenty of water, but I think you will be just fine. Well there is one other thing you need, both of you really."

Shinji and Rei both cocked their heads at Ritsuko, who thought it made sense for them to be like that after the week they had had but that did not make it less creepy.

"I order you both to take a damn shower, bath, something. Didn't they let you bathe down there?"

"Um… no, hadn't thought about it actually." Replied Shinji. It is of course a well known fact among parents of males that teenage boys lose their sense of 'self-smell' for several years during puberty. How they do not realize this themselves is unknown to science at this time.

"How do you not smell it?!"

Shinji shrugged.

"Oy, out, all of you. I'd put down a sheet or something in the car Misato, probably going to have to burn these."

"Hehe, still have the motor pool POS, come on kids!"

A shot elevator ride later and they were in the NERV prius and driving away from the hospital. It was early afternoon, the schools had not even let out.

"Hey Shinji?"

"Yeah Misato?" Shinji had taken the backseat, ceding the front to Rei.

"I Know you are probably really tired, but its been kind of a busy week and…"

"You need me to cook, don't you?"

"And shop? I would rather head back and get some work done now then go back after dinner and stay super late, so would you and Rei be okay if I dropped you off at our place?"

Shinji facepalmed, not terribly surprised but far from pleased with the situation.

"Yeah, fine."

Rei was conflicted. She did not live with her guardian, but she had assumed that, had she done so, her guardian would have fulfilled certain responsibilities that Misato did not. However, this did mean they would have time alone. Additionally, if they were to purchase food for dinner, Rei could ask Shinji to make her meat, maybe even beef. Overall, positive, at least in the short term. Misato could deny her access to Shinji, but she was not sure she liked the captain.

It was a short drive to the apartment, and Misato let them out at the curb. Both pilots took the stairs in a slow measured way. Five days of training had caught up, and their shins screamed with each step. Being barefoot was not that bad really, running on steel floors had toughened the soles of their feet.

Shinji was not pleased when they finally entered the apartment. It was not nearly as bad as when he had first arrived, but it was nonetheless clear Misato had returned to her old ways while he was gone. Pen-pen slid out of his refrigerator, warked a greeting, and bowed before returning to his 'room'.

"Misato teaches him to do weird stuff, I don't even know."

Shinji insisted on cleaning up he garbage first.

"I can get this, you can have the first shower, Rei."

"No, I would prefer to help."

Between the two of them it only took a few minutes and three large bags to dispose of the built up Misato leavings.

"I swear, she's such a child sometimes…"

"Is the captain not a satisfactory guardian?"

"What? Um, well,I mean we have food, and a safe place to sleep and everything. She just doesn't clean up after herself that well. She can't cook either, so she always buys this…" Shinji held up one of the empty instant ramen bowls. "…stuff. Then there is the beer."

Rei picked up yet another can. She was mentally doing the math. She had picked up twenty-six cans so far, all of which appeared to have contained alcohol. Misato had been alone for four nights and Shinji had also been picking up cans that she was not counting.

"Does she normally consume this much alcohol?" Rei asked as she picked up yet another can.

"Sometimes." Shinji chuckled to himself. "She really is like a little kid, I have to make sure she does not sneak it in the basket when we shop."

"And you do the cooking?"

"Well yeah, I don't want to die of this poison." Shinji replied as he tossed another empty paper bowl into his bag.

"Does Captain katsuragi shoulder other labor then?"

"Ha! Only thing she does is clean Pen-pen's fridge out, but that's only because he won't let me. Nope, I cook, I clean, I even do laundry. If this whole assassin thing doesn't work out, once the angels are gone I could look for a job as a butler."

"Those who have stood to protect humanity should never have to serve at the feet of others." Rei said, plainly, but with a hint of resentment. It was that little bit of vitriol that made Shinji stop and think about it.

"You know, Misato works really hard, and she didn't have to take me in. I know I complained, but it's not that bad. This is a better place than I have lived in a long time."

"That does not make it right."

Shinji shrugged. "Maybe not, but its better than where I was before." Shinji said as he picked up the final plastic wrapper.

"There, that's better. Lets see what's left for food." Shinji said then opened the refrigerator.

Beer. Beer was what was left. Shinji slammed the icebox door shut.

"You know, Shinji, I remember something, I do not recall where I saw it, about indulgence vs compulsion. The former is a pleasure, the latter a destroyer."

"She is not an alcoholic, she just has a stressful job and the beer helps her relax."

"She takes advantage of you hunter."

Shinji gave up. He liked Rei, he did, but maybe Remo-sensei was right. She saw the world in a different way.

"Why don't you take the first shower Rei?"

"I had thought we might bathe together."

"W-what?" Was all the response Shinji could summon.

"You have complained it is difficult to clean yourself with your wounds. I wish to help."

"Um, I don't really think that's a good idea."

Rei looked puzzled. "Why?" She asked and took a step closer to him, which only made Shinji nervous.

"Uh, well, I just, its not." Dammit she was getting closer, fuck fuck fuck. "STOP!"

Rei stopped, still a stride away from her boyfriend. She was curious, why was he was distressed?

"Shinji, what is wrong? I do not wish to hurt you, only to assist you."

"Just don't come any closer okay, I know what I want to say I just have to think it out, just give me a minute." Shinji said, one hand to his head with fingers in his hair, the other on the counter behind him.

Shinji twitched this way and that as he took his time to think. It worried Rei, he appeared… she could not think of a single word. As an animal in a cage through which it had been prodded. Anxious seemed too much of understatement.

"I just, its… dammit, now I look like a fucking idiot."

"You do not."

"Don't treat me like a child! Don't patronize me!

"I am not patronizing you. I have had a similar problem vocalizing my emotions of late, if you might recall our conversation yesterday evening. I do not pretend to understand your problems, but I recognize your reactions as similar to my own. We are the same. I do not hold your reactions to your pain against you." Rei took another step forward and caught Shinji by the wrist when he tried to push her away. This was not the night tiger she trained along side. This was an angry, frightened, man. When he looked up at her, she saw the wide eyed desperation, like a cornered animal… how did she know what a cornered animal looked like? Rei filed the question away as yet another thing had yet to remember. More important were issues at hand.

"Shinji, would you prefer determining what we need to purchase while I take a shower?"

Shinji stopped twitching and nodded. He offered no resistance when Rei pulled him to her and began to stroke his hair.

"We are alike, you and I. I know this, I feel it. Promise me that, when you are ready, you will tell me what troubles you."

Shinji nodded against her chest. "I promise, Rei." He was rewarded with her finger sliding across his back, right along where his snaking scar passed from the right side of his neck to his left shoulder blade. He shivered and she smiled.

As Rei stepped away, Shinji held on to her by the sleeve. They both still wore their practice uniforms, unwilling to change into clean clothes before they had cleaned themselves.

"Rei?"

"Yes, Shinji?"

"I-is there something you would like for dinner?"

Rei grinned. "I thought you would never ask."

While Rei showered, Shinji started making a shopping list. There really was nothing but beer and fish in the entire apartment. Rei had wanted something with red meat. She didn't care what, just as long as it was red and rare. Shinji wasn't bothered by it, everyone had his or her preference. He was a medium well guy himself.

He was totaling up costs from remembered prices when he realized the problem with the whole plan.

"Crap!" Shinji barked and smacked the table with his open hand.

"Whats wrong Shinji?" Rei asked as she stepped out of the bathroom. It took Shinji a couple seconds to respond when he turned to find her wrapped in a towel.

"Oh, uh, I just realized Misato didn't give me any money for shopping."

"Well, that was irresponsible of her."

"I know I know… Maybe there is enough loose change to scrounge something together." Shinji started checking drawers before he remembered that second gift from the weird nurse. Rei was going into his room to get dressed.

"Hey Rei?"

"Yes?"

"Could you check if my wallet is in there? its black, made of cloth, I think I left it on the dresser."

"It is here."

Well, Shinji thought, if weirdos in his dreams wanted to subsidize him with real money, who was he to question?

They left the apartment a half hour later. Both were wearing their school uniforms. Rei because it was the only clothing she had present, and Shinji because it would have felt weird not to. He had left his shirt untucked. Given the time they looked like a couple walking home from class.

"Rei, do your shoes feel, I don't know, uncomfortable?"

"I would not describe it as discomfort, but they do feel different, yes. Like walking on…"

"Pillows?"

"Yes."

"I am going to ask sensei what kind I should I get."

A few minutes later they arrived at the small grocery store that Shinji and Misato most frequently shopped at. Far from the supermarkets of a large city, Shinji suspected it had probably been a convenience store originally, by the layout and size.

While Shinji was picking out vegetables, Rei asked why one was better than the other. Shinji explained how one could tell quality and freshness by feeling and looking at them. Likewise, even though the meat was all packaged with no butcher in the tiny store, Shinji showed her the difference between a good cut and one that would be all gristle.

"Now just because its expensive, does not mean its better either. Look here, see these little medallions? That is a filet, its one half of a T-bone, which is…"

"From the short loin." Rei recited. Shinji had been talking lovingly about food for some time now. She had been listening intently, this was new to her. She always thought of food as something that was brought to one or purchased in a condition to be consumed. She had not thought of it as something one prepared to maximize the pleasure in consuming it.

"Right, exactly. Now it is usually regarded as one of the best cuts, but that's not the whole story. It has a high price because it's so small. Its good quality, but it lacks natural flavor. Now season it right and its great, but if you are going to be changing the flavor anyway, why pay more for such a small piece of meat?"

"It would seem a poor return on investment."

"Indeed. That is why I liiiiiike…" Shinji reached for one of the smaller freezer shelves. "The skirt steak. Cooked right it is just as tender and flavorful as any other cut, and if you look at the prices, about a quarter the cost by weight."

When they came to the check out, Shinji gave the man behind the counter his black and gold card. Unlike Shinji, he had seen many cards in his time and did find it weird that there were no card numbers or expieration on this one. He slid it through the scanner anyway and was surprised when his register announced a successful transaction with a a high pitched 'Namaste!'. It had only ever beeped before. He gave Shinji his card back and the children were on their way.

Shinji made a mental note to ask Vasuki or the nurse if there were any rules to the thing. Whoever he saw first. She usually only visited after angel battles, but he had seen the naga two out of the last four nights.

When they returned to the apartment, Shinji went to change into casual house clothes, but stopped at his door. Would that make Rei feel weird? All she had was her school uniform. Well and that shirt Misato loaned her. She was only a little bigger than him, might work.

"Rei, I have a pair of shorts you can borrow if you want to change out of your uniform."

"That would be nice, thank you."

Shinji had changed and was putting on an apron when his phone began to ring.

"Oh, great, another one." He said then flipped it open. "This is Shinji… Hi Misato. Its not another angel is it?... Oh good… So when are you going to be home?.. Okay. Well I will have a bowl of leftovers for you in the fridge… Oh yeah, don't worry, I had my card… Okay, bye."

Rei came out of Shinji's room wearing a long white t-shirt and a pair of dark mesh shorts she had found in Shinji's things. She supposed they had probably been gym clothes from school at some point. On a younger Shinji she imagined they would have been a decent length, but with the drawstring completely undone they rode her hips and only came down an inch, maybe two, from her butt. Not that she minded, given that by Shinji's face, he certainly did not.

For Shinji's part, how the shorts looked was immaterial. Hell, at his angle they were not even visible beneath the oversized shirt. Shinji Ikari was, like his father before him, a leg man.

"What did the captain call about?" Rei asked. She knew he would have said something if it was another attack so she had already written off the possibility.

"Shinji?" Rei said again after he just kept staring.

Shinji shook off his hormone haze. "Oh, um, Misato said she had a lot of work to do and wouldn't be back until later tonight. So its just us for dinner."

"Oh okay…" Rei said, considered what she had thought in her mind, and chose to give it voice. "So, um, its just the two of us, l-like a date? Our first date?"

Shinji laughed. Rei had expected him to get nervous again but it was a pleasant laugh. Not an accusatory laugh _like those stupid wenches at school_. "And what is so funny, hunter?"

Shinji was still chuckling to himself as he tied the apron's strings and set his wok on the stove. It was easier to speak when he was not facing someone, even Rei. Besides, he wasn't going to get dinner done looking at her legs.

"Its nothing, just… I'm Shinji Ikari. As far back as I can remember, once mom went away, nothing has ever gone right for me. Everyone I met either didn't give a crap about me or worse were actually interested in me. Cause they could use me for something, to get something… " Shinji paused for a moment then turned on the stove for another pan to sauté in. "…other stuff. But the last few weeks, I left my worst foster family in a while, came here and met Misato…" Shinji turned to take the meat from its packaging and looked at Rei." And you. Now I am learning to be an assassin, I have real friends my own age, and I pilot a giant robot. I mean I even have a girlfriend! Me, the universe's ragdoll and for the first time in I don't know how long, you know what? I am happy."

"Well you deserve it, hunter." Rei stepped into the kitchen "Can I help?"

"Sure, here cut these up… Oh no no no, don't hold the knife like that, like this…"

It was a testement to the efficiency with which Shinji had run a restaurant, in Rei's mind anyway, that 15 minutes later they were seated at the kitchen table with hot food in front of them. Shinji always like when his cooking was appreciated, but the sounds Rei made as she ate were… disturbing on multiple fronts. They swung between a wolf tearing into a carcass and an overacted dirty movie.

Shinji did not speak English, he could barely read it, but he had seen enough subtitled nature shows in school to recognize the soft tones of one man who it seemed narritated them all.

_And here we see the rare wild assassin (Homo Sapien Sinanju) female in her natural habitat, consuming the meal the male has brought for her. Notice the voracious manner in which she brings the food to her mouth, contrasting with the slow, rolling chewing motion accompanied by moans of seeming ecstasy. Though there are signs of rudimentary tool use, they would appear to be redundant, given the force with which she raises the bowl to her mouth to feed_

"I'm glad you like it, Rei." Shinji said nervously. He wasn't sure that Rei would not start on the table when she finished her helping. When Rei paused, a few pieces of rice clung to her lip.

"I am not exaggerating when I say this is the best tasting thing I have consumed."

"Hehe, thank you! Let me put a bowl aside for Misato when she gets home, then you can have as much as you like." Shinji said. He was sure if he did not put some aside now, none would remain. He was correct.

Once they had finished eating, they talked as they cleaned up the kitchen. Shinji was very adamant that Misato's habits not be allowed to take hold.

"What does she do while home that stops her from helping with the chores?" Rei said, drying a pan Shinji had just finished scrubbing.

Shinji shrugged and continued cleaning the bowl in his hands. "Eats, drinks… She does clean Pen-pen's room though."

"So you said. Is he that dirty that it needs to be done everyday?"

"Oh no, once a week is fine. He is surprisingly clean actually, I always thought birds were dirty."

"So she does one chore, once a week. How about laundry, does she do her own?"

"No I take care of it, less washes to do them together."

"That's not what I mean."

"I know Rei. Misato has a hard job though, and she took me in, I want to help."

"She is treating you as a servant."

Shinji sighed "I am used to it. At least I don't have to work eighty hours a week here."

"What would you call the eighty five hours of training we did in the past four days?" Rei retorted, acid in her voice.

"Rei, calm down, did I say something wrong?"

"No, I…" Rei took a deep breath and let it out before continuing. "I am concerned she is using you because you are willing to do these things. Anger is a response to fear."

"Of what?"

"You being hurt."

There was silence for a minute.

Shinji thought hard about it. He could not remember anyone ever having said anything like that at all in his life. Rei cared. He wanted to help Misato, but she needed to help to. Rei cared about him, that's why she said something.

Rei thought hard on the matter as well. He should not serve, he should be served. He was the hunter of angels, not a maid. Rei appreciated the captain, but the situation was not acceptable to her. And she was _friends_ with that evil doctor. Shinji was so kind. Rei decided if the drunk continued to take advantage of him like this, she would stand up for him.

"Thank you Rei."

"You are welcome Shinji."

A while later the dishes were done, the kitchen was clean and Shinji and Rei sat in his small room. They sat together, legs crossed, on the thin futon. They were, as teenagers with their first partner often do, making incredibly awkward attempts at small talk. Shinji, in the middle of rambling about school, stopped mid sentence when Rei moved a little closer, her bare leg pressing up against his.

"Rei…" Shinji forgot exactly where he was going with that as she laid a hand on his thigh. He looked back up and she is looking at him, her crimson eyes meeting his own.

"Shinji, we do not have to talk about anything. I feel…" Rei cocked her head a little, pausing to consider the right word. "… Comfortable in your presence. If there is something you wish to discuss, then we may speak of it, but do not feel the need to avoid silence."

"O-okay Rei, I'm sorry" Shinji said, moving one hand to cover Rei's on his leg and scratching his head with the other.

"Don't be." She said then smiled and leaned a little closer, pressing shoulder to shoulder with her boyfriend. Oh she loved how that sounded, HER boyfriend. Daydreaming of what he might look like when they were older, assuming they got the chance to be any older, her hand pushed just a little too far.

"Gah!" Rei exclaimed as she started to fall to the side. She pulled her hand out from under Shinji's and planted it down to stop herself. It was only after stopping herself she noticed Shinji had grabbed her supporting hands wrist very hard. She looked at the captured hand and noticed she had put her hand directly onto his crotch to stop herself.

"Oh Shinji I'm sorry I didn't mean to… Shinji?" She said, ceasing her apology when she saw the look in Shinji's eyes. She pulled her hand but he did not let go. His eyes looked like he wasn't even there. She tugged quite hard then reached to touch his shoulder.

"Shinji, I'm sorry, I know that must have hurt."

"Get away…" He said, letting go of her wrist and shoving her away by her shoulder.

"Shinji? I just-"

"I said get away from me!" Shinji said as he stood up.

"Shinji I did not mean to hurt you! I meant no harm, it was an accident." Rei said as she stood up and looked down into the shorter boy's eyes. As he moved to push her away Rei grabbed him by his t-shirt and held fast. Shinji is not thinking, she thought. Had he meant to hurt her he could have struck like they were taught, he would not thrash about like he was.

Shinji pulled away after several seconds, leaving his shirt in Rei's hands. His eyes were still hard and panicked and he was quickly looking to each side then back to Rei. It was an animal ready to run.

"Don't touch me there! I don't… I don't… Its that…" He was losing focus again, eyes darting all over the room and raising his hands to his head. Rei was between him and the door.

"Shinji!" Rei said sharply. Shinji jolted where he stood and she stepped forward, wrapping her arms around the panicking boy tightly, pinning his arms to his sides.

"I am sorry Shinji, I won't touch you there anymore, please calm down." She whispered softly in his ear and it reminded him of something comforting. He relaxed in her embrace and slowly began to return to a normal state. First he stopped twitching, then his breathing slowed, and finally he presses his face to her chest as she began to stroke his hair.

"Sssssh, its okay, I won't let anybody touch you if you don't want them to." Rei said. It was not something she really had a reason to say, it just felt like the right thing to do. She slowly guided Shinji back to the ground and laid with him on his bed, holding his head against her chest as he began to cry.

"You don't like me anymore." He said between sniffling breaths.

"I still like you, I understand you, for we are the same."

"Are we still, you know?"

"Yes hunter, we are still a couple."

There were several minutes of silence before Rei gently tilted Shinji's head back to look at her. She looked down into his puffy red eyes and smiled. Shinji smiled back.

"If I ask you a question, you will answer truthfully?"

"Rei, I'm not… I don't want to talk about that yet, I just can't."

"Not about that…" Rei said and gently laid her finger on a long white scar that went from just above his collarbone all the way back around to the base of the scapula until it was covered by the snake scar that wrapped around his body "…Where did you get that one?"

"Um, I was… I was 6. I was still living with father but he was really busy so I had to walk home from school…" Shinji told her the story of having a bike rack fall on him and pointed out the other scars from the same incident. Rei slid her fingers down his back, choosing another mark whenever he finished a story. She stopped on a horseshoe shaped mark near the bottom of the rib cage

"What about this one?" She said, and Shinji stiffened again and pressed himself into her chest. Then he told her the story of the time he dropped a dish and it broke and his father used his belt. After that it was about his second foster father. Then his first foster mother, and the next, and the next, and the next. By the time Misato finally got home hours later it was dark and Rei had heard the stories of Shinji's scars from his back all the way back around to his chest and was working her way down his abdomen. Shinji had cried until there was nothing left and the front of Rei's t-shirt was soaked with tears.

Rei grimaced when the door opened and the lights were turned on. She held Shinji's head to her chest as she looked up to see Misato standing in the doorway.

"And just what are you two doing?"

"Speaking of Shinji's time in the foster care system, Captain Katsuragi." Rei said. Shinji said nothing.

"Aha, I knew you two were a couple! Gonna have to keep an eye on your now."

"Yes, we are… in a relationship. We were not doing anything forbidden though!"

"Then what were you doing?" Misato says, hands on her hips. She may not have children of her own but she bullshitted more than enough at this age. Besides, if they hadn't been doing anything wrong, Rei would not have jumped to deny and justify.

Rei sighed and kissed Shinji on the forehead, then gently took his hands from her. She stood and walked right up to Misato, eye to eye and inches apart.

"Captain Katsuragi, have you seen his scars?"

"Well yeah, I mean we live together, its hard to miss."

"Have you asked where they came from? Have you asked him why he does not like to be touched? Do you know why he sleeps in the corner?"

"I…" Misato started before Rei cut her off with more energy than Misato had ever seen the blue haired girl muster before.

"No! You don't know! You didn't even ask!"

"Now you listen to me-" Misato tried to interrupt but Rei silenced her with a step forward, forcing her back into the hall.

"No, you listen to me! I care for him! I know what he lives through every day! I know his pain!" Rei's crimson eyes have been locked with Misato own since she stood up. She looked like some kind of predator with her teeth bared, the captain thought, she just couldn't break eye contact.

"He cooks, he cleans, HE takes care of YOU! When was the last time you spent time at home sober? Do you even remember?" Rei left the question in the air and kept her eyes locked with Misato's, daring her to turn away first. Misato blinked and turned, stepping back again and away from Shinji's room. She looked up again but couldn't bring herself to match Rei's intense gaze. Misato turned and walked to the kitchen, picking up the beer can she had already opened. She went to raise it to her lips but stopped. After another failed attempt, she dumped it in the sink.

The captain raised her head and steels herself. With a soldiers stride she returned to her charge's room. She found Shinji huddled into the corner with Rei at his side. His hands were wrapped around her arm with her hand resting on his knee. He looked to Misato and his eyes just about broke her heart.

This was the boy she asked to fight. This was the boy she suggested should be made into a killer. This was the poor little boy who despite everything, took care of her. When he had left, she had gone right back to being a slob and left him to clean it up.

Misato raised a foot to step across the threshold but hesitated when Rei growled at her. She suddenly understood very clearly what Ritsuko had meant now. It wasn't crying, it wasn't trying to talk when she was upset. Rei had raised and flared her lip and growled through clenched jaws. It didn't even sound like a person, it was like an animal. Misato took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. This was Shinji and Rei, they were just a couple of messed up kids, probably both afraid, that was all.

"Shinji, Rei, may I come in?"

Rei raised her lip again but stopped when Shinji squeezed her arm. When Rei turned to look at him, he shook his head.

"But she-" She started

"Rei, please…" Shinji replied.

Misato figured that was as close as she was going to get to an invitation and stepped through the door. Rei watched her closely, and while Misato still could not bring herself to meet the girl's eyes, she felt them on her. She was soldier, she worked well under pressure. These were the only reasons she had not begun to shake. She needed to ask for the details on Rei, just her eyes on her skin were frightening.

"Rei, you have made a… valid point. Shinji, please accept my apology."

Shinji looks at her with those big brown eyes and nods.

"Please stop fighting now." He says. Rei and Misato look to each other and after a moment of tension, both nod. It is a silent agreement; they will get along for him.

"Shinji…" Misato began. "… where… how…" She takes a deep breath "Shinji, I hope I have earned your trust enough to share your memories with me, painful as they must be."

Shinji nodded. He choked a little when he tried to speak but he was out of tears to cry. He told Misato the stories he had told Rei. He told them both things he had never told anybody.

He did not tell them about _that_. He had his pride dammit. He was a man, he wasn't going to talk about that.

Around the same time, in the office of Gendo Ikari…

The commander of NERV was processing procurement requests. Things like this were what got him were he was. Truly effective administrators and truly effective intelligence agents were hard to find, and he was both. He made his position inscrutable while constantly undermining those of his rivals.

When his desk phone rang, his first reaction was to check his watch. It was after 2100, he didn't have any calls scheduled. With the least audible of grumbles he picked up the receiver.

"Speak."

"Commander, this is the switchboard. I have an executive level call for you from Prime Minister Blessed of the United Kingdom."

"Did the Prime Minister say what it is he wanted?"

"No, sir, only that he had to speak with you on an urgent matter."

"Very well, please secure the line then put him through."

"Yes Sir… Prime Minister, are you still receiving? Thank you, connecting you to Commander Ikari."

"This is Commander Gendo Ikari of NERV, what may I do for you this evening Prime Minister?"

"DAMMIT IKARI, YOU COCKED IT UP AGAIN."

Gendo jumped in his seat, unsettling his glasses so much they slipped off his face. He had not spoken to the recently named Prime Minister before and had not expected a party stooge to be so… loud.

"I am sorry prime minister-" Gendo started as he slid off chair to look for his glasses, receiver still head to his head.

"BLOODY WELL RIGHT YOU ARE IKARI." Came the hurricane of a voice again, and Gendo startled despite himself, knocking his head on the underside of his desk.

"I am sorry but I am not sure on what matter you are referring to."

"REMO WILLIAMS! REMO BLOODY WILLIAMS!"

"What about Mr. Williams, Prime Minister?"

"REMO'S ALIIIIIIVE!"

"Yes, Prime Minister, so far as I am aware anyway."

"THAT'S THE PROBLEM YOU FOOL! THE MAN IS NOT SUPPOSED TO EXIST! THEN YOU JOLLY WELL PUT HIM IN YOUR PERSONNEL RECORDS AND NOW EVERYONE KNOWS WHERE TO FIND HIM! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE OUT THERE THAT WANT HIM DEAD?!"

"Well Prime Minister, I would think anybody in his line of work would accumulate a sizeable list of enemies. Prime Minister, if you don't mind me asking, how do you know of Mr. Williams? I was under the impression he was an American agent, we only knew of him because our parent agency absorbed his former employer."

"HA! HE TAUGHT ME TO BREATH RIGHT, I WOULD NEVER HAVE GOTTEN UP EVEREST WITHOUT HIM! ENOUGH ABOUT MY SUCKING THIN AIR, BACK TO YOUR SUCKING! YOU JUST PAINTED A TARGET ON YOUR BACK IKARI, ONE I HIGHLY DOUBT YOU NEED RIGHT NOW IF THE REPORTS I HAVE RECEIVED ARE TO BE BELIEVED. GOOD BLOODY LUCK!"

"Thank you Prime Minister, if that will be all…"

"ONE FINAL THING, I SHOULD LIKE TO MAKE A VISIT."

"With all due respect Prime Minister, I see no reason to allow you to visit our operation, you have no authority here."

"IT WAS NOT A REQUEST IKARI, IT WAS A WARNING."

*click*

The silence that followed the line closing was deafening in its richness. Gendo had never realized just how beautiful lack of noise could be. He took from his bottom drawer a bottle and a tumbler and after two drinks rang Dr. Ritsuko Akagi's desk.

"You've reached the desk of Dr. Akagi, please leave a message *beep*"

Gendo hung up the phone. Now where the hell was she?

On the south end of Tokyo-3, in a restaurant overlooking the lake was were the hell Dr. Ritsuko Akagi was.

She wore a little black dress with diamond earrings. She thought it was provocative but not daring. It was tight where it counted, but came down to almost the knee and more suggested cleavage than showed it. She thought she remembered buying it for a funeral. She did not wear stockings, she wore them to work and tonight she did not want to feel anything like she was at work. Rather the conservative, low, closed toe shoes she wore to work, she had picked out a pair of strappy four inch heels in black. She had bought them after work today on a lark. With everything going on, a little retail therapy did not weigh heavy on her.

She was quite nervous if she was to be honest with herself. She had tried to remember the last time she went on a date. It had been college, a double date with Misato and Kaji. She didn't even remember the poor schmuck's name.

She had checked her coat and had taken a seat at the bar to wait for her date. Alcohol helped calm her nerves. She looked down at the dress again and was far less confident in her choice. What if her date didn't like it, what if it sent the wrong message. She wanted to look confident and sexy, not uptight.

Ritsuko Akagi saw her date arrive and downed the rest of her drink before giving a little wave.

"Well hello there." Ritsuko managed to make it sound smooth.

"Hey. You look great."

"Hehe, thanks, its been so long I wasn't even sure what to wear."

"Its okay. Are you alright, you seem nervous?"

"I guess, its just… its been a long time, and I haven't, you know, like this before."

"If it makes you uncomfortable, it doesn't have to be a date, I'm sorry."

"No no, it is just new to me, that is all."

"First time for everything, right sempai?"

"Please Maya, call me Ritsuko."

End

Well, that was out of left field.

So a whole lot of drama going on for our main cast. Hope those of you following for that bit enjoyed it.

For those of you following for the action, next chapter will be more your cup of tea. See what I did there? British actor reference, cup of tea? Oh forget it.

For those of you unfamiliar with the PM of the UK featured above, please see the TVtropes or Wikipedia page for **BRIAN BLESSED**. Yes his name must be written like that. Yes I do mean the actor became prime minister in this story. Cause its funny.


	16. Chapter 16

So this chapter is slightly short and went through a LOT of revisions. Honestly I am still not totally happy with it, but I am less happy with missing an update. Due to a dead AC converter block I was without my computer for a few days and had a friend's wedding to help out with.

**Inserting Shameless Plug **

(Its like an entry plug but in really bright colors and only compatible with those skimpy test plug suits from REBUILD)

I have also started a new story. Well I posted a prologue anyway. Assassins Of A Counter Earth is an Assassin's Creed story set on John Norman's Gor. I like Gor's setting but I hate the authorship due to his annoying style and focus on the small enslaved population to the exclusion of the rest of a cool setting. The Fandumb surrounding much of the Gor RP out there also doesn't help. Despite the setting, the story will be trying to stay M rated and not pass into MA since that can't be posted here.

**Removing Shameless Plug**

I would be honored if y'all wouldn't mind checking it out and maybe leaving a review. Now back to what you all are here for: Trishula, the story of of gods in the shape of man learning to cope with humanity and kicking ass.

Edit: 12/17/14 formatting issues

Chapter 16

A gout of burning light lanced out across Tokyo-3 and with a flash of orange light deflected into a mountainside miles away.

**_I AM CREATED SHIVA, THE DESTROYER…_**

The purple giant stepped over the charred and smoking form of Unit Zero, roaring at the cracked and broken crystal drilling into the earth. Light flashed from the great cracks in the angel as it prepared to fire again. Unit One planted its feet and raised both open hands towards the enemy.

**_THIS GROUND, THIS CITY, THIS NATION, THIS PLANET…_**

The angel's attack shot out and stopped dead in the air as it hit the wall of light. The AT field shone in expanding circles, like ripples through a sea of fire.

**_THIS WOMAN, ALL OF THEM ARE UNDER MY PROTECTION!_**

With shaking but undeniable progress, Unit One started to move forward. The beam intensified and the further from the center of the field, the greater it flexed, forming a great spike with Unit One's hands at its point. With thundering steps, the evangelion closed in and with a final mountain moving push, the AT field and the beam of light flashed as they eliminated each other.

With a shrieking sound, Ramiel realized the drill it had sunk kilometers into the ground was now keeping it from retreating from the walking death before it.

**_THOU ARE AN ENEMY OF THE RIGHTNESS OF THE UNIVERSE!_**

Unit One plunged its hands into a fissur and with a roar and flash of its AT field, started to pull. The angel let out a deafening shriek as one building sized of the blue crystal came loose and fell to the ground.

The core exposed, Unit One drew back one arm wreathed in burning orange light and drove down to end the battle.

**_YOU PERVERT THE-_**

Shinji was cut off as a flash like a H-bomb lit up Tokyo-3 and sent evangelion Unit One flying. Before the giant had even hit th ground, Shinji was cursing himself for his mistake. As the eva crushed a building on impact and skidded through several more, he could feel how dim the energy of his body was. He had put everything into the assault and had barely enough left to stay awake.

Displays and sounding alarms filled the plug, telling him the eva's status echoed his own. Past them all, he could see the angel still stood, more of a craggy ball than the crystal it was when it arrived.

Well damn, he thought. Maybe we beat it up enough they can hit it with an N2 mine or something. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Things were going to well, my life has never and will never be that good. Hell, I doubt its going to last much longer anyway. At least if everyone dies nobody will be around to tell me what a loser I was…

As his vision faded and breath began to leave him, Shinji heard something that raised his soul and made him smile.

**_I AM CREATED, KALI, THE END OF ALL THINGS!_**

Two days ago…

"Are you sure about this, Rei?"

"Yes."

"O-okay. Just like you do me, right?"

"No. If I say stop… don't."

"I don't know if I can. I need you to stop when I say so, and if I don't it feels like, you know…"

"Please, I need your help. I am so close but… I can't make myself say it, I need you to make me. Force me to tell you and I will finally feel better, I promise."

"Okay."

Elsehwhere…

"Oooooooh that was good."

"Mmhm"

"Hey Maya?"

"Yeah?"

"Why is 'science' stitched across this blindfold?"

"Cause she blinded me with science doo da doo, she hit me with technology…"

Ritsuko Akagi slapped her own forehead and groaned. Puns were not sexy.

One day ago…

Shinji Ikari ceased sleeping a moment before the first light of dawn touched his bedroom window. There was no red eyed wild flower in this room, which made the morning less than perfect. Their first "intensive", and Sensei had said there would be more, had been incredibly exhausting, but spending nearly every moment with Rei had made him used to her presence. Since they had shared sleeping space as much as possible. Never a bed, and never in each other's arms. They had tried it, but couldn't get comfortable. Looking at each other meant nobody was watching the door and after years of sitting up to sleep, Shinji adapted quickly to getting his rest in the lotus position.

That had been six months ago now. They had ended up missing nearly a month of school after the little incident with the AT field, and Shinji's grades never recovered. He didn't know how Rei's were in the first place, but she had turned into a voracious reader, spending most classes reading something other than what was assigned.

Rei had barely reacted when Misato told them they would have to do summer classes, even though Shinji had been furious. He wanted to go back to how things were that first crazy month. Every day with Remo and Vitali, every night spent in the company of his girlfriend.

His girlfriend. Still felt weird even in his mind but he liked it.

Shinji stood from his place in the corner and began to stretch as he had been taught. He began with his core and worked his way out to his limbs, finishing by touching his fingertips to his wrists, first forward than backward.

Shinji easily pulled the bandages from his arms and inspected his wounds. Burned without actually being burned, his skin appeared to be deeply tan from his hands to above his elbow. It was all the more noticeable against his otherwise pale skin. Dr. Akagi had told him while the color would stay, his subdermal wounds should now be healed.

Shinji undressed and pulled away the wrappings on his torso. He had been more happy to be released from those, as just breathing he had felt the tightness in his chest. Shinji wrapped his towel about himself and strode across the living room to the shower. As the water warmed, he looked at himself in the mirror.

Unlike his arms, his chest had not darkened, but the white naga scar left by the last angel stood out even against the pale skin around it. Rei was the one who told him it looked like a snake, and he had to agree. During a night time visit, Vasuki had told him in past lives the naga had hung itself around his shoulders to accompany him and so Shinji decided it was a naga scar.

As steam began to gather, Shinji moved himself through another stretching exercise and watched how the serpent mark moved across his skin in the mirror as the muscles beneath it flexed. Well, if nothing else, it looked really cool.

Shinji stepped into the hot spray and hissed to himself. This was the first real shower he had been able to take since his injuries, having had to carefully sponge himself clean while stuck with the bandages. He had made the water too hot, but it felt incredible to feel _something_ again.

He had finally asked Dr. Akagi about it during one of the daily check ups she insisted on during the intensive. If he had suffered no surface damage, why did he have to wear bandages? She had told him bandages had helped to insulate and protect the medication that would hopefully help him regain some sensation and fine motor skills you ungrateful little shit. Shinji didn't know if it was medicine or training with Remo-sensei, but his dexterity had returned and he could feel things again. Not as well as he had of course. Well, except for Rei.

The morning before they had began lessons, Rei had helped him with his bandages and they had discovered that when she touched him he felt it like nothing had ever happened. Compared to barely feeling anything at all, that felt amazing. She had helped him change his bandages every morning after they spent the night together since.

Shinji shivered, but it was a pleasant thing. Rei had really changed since they had met Remo-sensei and Vitali-sensei. She smiled and laughed now. When they were alone, she called him hunter. When he finally asked why during a rest break on the third day, he had felt stupid for waiting. She had called him the hunter of angels, like he was some hero in a story.

Of course he had killed two monsters in a giant robot, so maybe she was not so far, he thought as he washed himself. Not robot, Shinji corrected himself "Synthetic Humanoid Cyborg". During breaks for their muscles to recover, Dr. Akagi had drilled them on knowledge of the evas and how they worked. She had been very insistent on it not being a robot, obsessive really.

If he was the hero though, she was definitely no damsel in distress. When she and Shinji sparred, it was hard work to keep up. She was bigger than him, and he had to focus to keep up with her speed and precision. He had better hurry up, he thought, else he might miss her and he liked their time spent talking on the way to school.

Shinji turned off the water and stood in the hot steam for a moment, enjoying the little sensations of the hot moisture. One does not think much of those things until they are gone. Now mindful of that, he enjoyed these little pleasures all the more.

After brushing his teeth and drying off, Shinji went back to his room and got dressed. He could hear Misato's alarm going off for the first time as he passed through the living room. She would be up in another forty five minutes or so he knew. As he dressed he felt discomfort in the familiar school uniform. It had fit perfectly before, but now the shirt was just a little too snug, and he didn't like how the pants bound up around his knees as his legs bent.

He had finally bought new shoes, canvas slip-ons with rubber soles. He saw some people wear them fashionably, but Shinji just liked that he could feel the ground through them and get them off quickly. Remo-sensei had approved.

Shinji made rice for breakfast and coffee for Misato. While he had usually shared with her, Remo-sensei had been very insistent that he no longer consumes it. Something about a dependency interfering with his own body's rhythm, Shinji had just been irritated he could not have coffee anymore. What he was told he should make for breakfast irritated him more. Raw rice cooked and topped with a bean curd. Something about protein for growing muscles. Shinji had asked when he could have his Chinese food back, and Vitali-sensei has laughed at him. The teachers told him he could eat that stuff "off-peak" whatever that meant.

The food they ate while they were training around the clock had been good, though Vitali had refused to share the recipes unless Shinji taught him how to make peking duck. Negotiations were ongoing.

By the time Misato finally made her way into the kitchen, Shinji had almost finished his second helping. A few minutes later he was out the door.

Shinji started walking but he was anxious. He wanted more time with Rei before they got to school. So he began to run. He found Rei where their paths came together, also running.

"Hunter." She said as they stopped together on a street corner.

"Wildflower." He replied. That was his name for her when they were alone, just between them. Nadeshiko was a flower and a word that Shinji associated with good girls. He wasn't sure why or what a common plant had to do with nice young women, but he liked how it sounded and Rei seemed to like it.

"Race?" Rei said with only the slightest inflection indicating it was a question.

"What?" Shinji responded like an idiot, caught up by the out of context challenge.

"Go." She said and bolted down the street towards their school.

"Crap, hey!" Shinji said as he ran after. It had been like this since their masters had allowed them to spar. If there was a way to test themselves against each other, she wanted to do it. He had asked her why, and she had told him she wanted to test herself against him, the one who had killed two angels. She had not fought one yet so he was the closest thing she could compete against.

They were getting closer now, on the far side of the ground from the gate, and Rei still had 50 yards on Shinji. She had had to slow down to bob and weave through other students walking and riding bikes. Shinji would have to do the same though. He looked around for another way and an idea came to mind that brought a smile to his face. It was stupid and silly and if it worked one sensei would congratulate him and the other would call him an idiot for showing off. He wasn't sure which would say what but both would laugh at him if it didn't work.

Shinji jumped and landed one foot on a planter than launched himself higher to land on the steel tube that topped the cyclone fencing surrounding much of the school. He lost time as he found his balance but as he began to run again, He could see his gamble had been worth it.

Shinji sprinted along the fence top, feeling and gripping the tube through his thin shoes. As the fence transitioned to concrete wall he picked up more speed. Rei had not bothered to look back and check her lead and as Shinji passed her he conceived of what would end up being his moment of folly.

At the gate to the school the wall would end. As he reached the end, he twisted as he launched off his right foot and as he turned in the air he waved to Rei. Her face was priceless, anger at being bested and shock at his bold move. As Shinji realized his legs were not under him, it occurred to him that look could have been worry and anger at him for being an idiot.

Shinji landed on his right shoulder and slid several feet across the dusty path that led from the gate to the front of the school. His head bounced off the ground and when his vision cleared he saw his three friends standing over him.

Toji Suzahara had his big arms crossed across his chest, shaking his head.

Kensuke Aida was bending down and telling him how awesome that looked.

Rei Ayanami looked down at him with those big beautiful red eyes and said one word.

"Cheater."

Shinji laughed. Having friends was good. Having a girlfriend was good. Being an assassin giant robot pilot was not bad either. It was good to be Shinji Ikari, no matter how weird it felt to even think.

School was routine at this point. Shinji looked out the window but answered any questions asked; he just didn't like doing the work. He caught the pieces of chalk the elderly teacher threw at him. Rei read her books and usually ignored being called upon. No teachers tried throwing chalk at her after she threw it back the one time. The little stick had burst into a cloud of powder when it hit the board.

Shinji did not think of it as being disrespectful really. He just had more important things on his mind, he just wasn't supposed to talk about them. It didn't stop him from having conversations that bordered on code with Ken and Toji of course but that was different, they got it.

Well, "got it" was relative.

Shinji felt like he and Rei had a bodyguard in Toji, not that they needed it of course but it was still nice. Shortly after they returned to school, Rei had found tacks in her shoes and had been getting ready to use the offender as a practice dummy. Toji had said he would take care of it and the next day the poor girl had apologized.

Ken had set off and fed Rei's newfound love of books, especially her more recent love of pulp. The weird tales collections and detective novels filled her book bag daily. Shinji still loved the memory of the first time Rei went to the library and asked for pulp fiction. She had brought over a VHS tape of some weird American movie, but it was really funny and people laughed when they repeated the lines.

"Whatcha reading today, Rei-chan?" Shinji asked between periods.

"A collection of works by one Mr. Lovecraft, an American."

"Any good?"

"The parallel to humanity's current situation are unsettling. I do not think I will continue with his work, I prefer something with an escapist element."

Outside of class, before school and at lunch, they gathered at 'their' spot beneath a tree in the field of the school. They had sat down and begun to unwrap lunch when Shinji sighed and started putting his away.

"What's wrong man, not hungry?"

"Oh no, I'm hungry…" Shinji pulled out his NERV cell phone from his pocket and held it up, resting his chin in his other hand with elbow on his knee.

"In 3…2…"

On cue, the phone began to ring. Shinji grinned at the trick Rei had taught him. NERV used their own tower network and the tower was in site of their spot under the tree. If one looked closely, a red light on the tower began blinking when priority calls, like those during an attack, locked out all other frequencies in the area. He had thought she had sensed the last angel coming but felt stupid when she told him the truth.

Shinji flipped the phone open and and laid back on the grass as he answered.

"Ikari Shinji, hit man to the stars, who or what do you need dead today?..." He said. He had heard Remo-Sensei answer that way and thought it was clever.

"…Okay, yeah, see you there." Shinji flipped the phone shut, the whole call having lasted perhaps thirty seconds.

"Oh man, another one? I just got my new camera, when is it gonna be here?" Ken asked, almost giddy.

"Dude, call down…" Toji said and stopped Kensuke from getting too much more frantic by pulling him back down to the ground by his shirt collar. "… So what is the word?"

"They are going to announce the evacuation soon. Misato said they think this one is slow enough they can get everyone out of the city, not like last time." Last time Shinji had had to worry about the populated city behind him and had ended up burning ninety percent of the eva's armor off.

Shinji waited until Rei had packed her bag again before rising with her.

"Hey samurai, good luck." Toji said and gave a respectful bow from the ground.

"Yeah, go show'em the power of the human race!" Ken said with a salute.

Goodbyes were said and the pilots walked through the lunch crowd towards the front of the school.

"Do you ever wish you could tell them?"

"Tell who, wildflower?"

They were alone now, waiting on the sidewalk for Misato to pick them up.

"The children who go about their day assuming the things which keep them safe will simply happen and giving no thought to the people who do them."

"You mean do I ever want to tell them what what I've done?"

"Yes. You are not regarded with the respect and awe which you deserve."

Shinji shrugged.

"Never thought I deserved any."

Rei grabbed his arm to hook her around it.

"I will share a secret with you, but you must promise not to tell anybody."

"Of course wildflower." Shinji had confided many secrets in Rei, he would never break her trust.

"After last night, I remembered something."

"Oh?" Shinji said as the whine and roar of a straining engine approached.

"My name… but I will tell you later, in private." Rei responded as the sound got closer. They both knew the sound. Even after three months Misato still claimed to be "putting the car through its paces".

Misato Katsuragi had grown impatient in her search for a replacement for her Renault. She loved European cars but the Japanese market for vintage sports cars was so small. Thus the selection was small and the prices for good examples high if one wanted original equipment. Misato Katsuragi did not give a damn about original equipment. She cared about going unreasonably fast, preferably in a direction other than the car was facing.

Every tire squeal from the Nissan 280Z rallysport made her smile. All the real rally cars had been the two seater model, but this one had been built from the four seater. Candy apple red with yellow streaks across the hood and a set of rally lights contoured into the nose, it was loud in so many more ways than simple noise. The noise it did make was glorious though. Between the various modifications, the original one-hundred and eighty horsepower of the turbocharged six cylinder had been bumped to nearly two-hundred and fifty. Beyond that Misato had a switch covered by a red plastic hood marked CAUTION near her right hand. She hadn't dared try the nitrious oxide boost yet. If she was going to blow up the engine she was going to make it worth it.

And who said Japanese manufacturing was boring?

The tires barked as Misato came to a stop in front of the pilots.

"Heya kids! Learn anything good in school today?" She said and laughed as they got in the car, Shinji in the back and Rei up front.

"So where is the angel Misato? Is there a file on this one?"

"What, no hi Captain katsuragi, how are you? So impatient, kids these days! No rush briefing this time, we got a while before this one gets here. New policy is to bring you guys in as soon as we confirm one."

Confirm one they had, though one what puzzled Shinji as they sat with most of the operational staff in the briefing theater. It was big and blue and kinda beat up was all Shinji could say about it. Misato and Ritsuko shared a podium in front of the tall screen.

"Alright everyone, listen up! This is what we know! At approximately eleven hundred today, the fifth angel, which we are dubbing Ramiel, was detected eight hundred miles east of Sri Lanka. It is proceeding very slowly in our direction but has been extremely aggressive if approached. These images have been enhanced from high altitude spy planes. Anything that got any closer was immediately engaged and destroyed by a beam weapon from the angel."

At this point Dr. Akagi cut in. "The weapon appears to be a charged particle beam, not a laser or an appendage like we observed with the fourth angel. The energy output observed through the EM spectrum varies erratically when the beam is active, which we believe is due to the angel's damaged state."

The angel did indeed appear damaged. The now familiar stone faces looked to be attached to each of the eight sides with gigantic bolts and long black rods passed through the blue crystal at several points. Cracks and fissues covered the thing and the struts looked like they might be the only things holding it together.

Even though estimates did not have the angel arriving until tomorrow, and despite complaints to that point, Shinji and Rei were directed to suit up and prepare for an extended start-up with the new F-type equipment that now covered the arms and shoulders of the evangelions. Unit One had been repaired in its original colors, while Unit Zero was covered in a patchwork of the yellow testing colors, unpainted grey panels, and even some of Unit One's armor in purple and green.

**_I AM CREATED, KALI, THE END OF ALL THINGS!_**

The black and charred body of Unit Zero began to shake and convulse. A dark, pulsing bass tone shook Tokyo-3 down to the geofront. When it reached the NERV bridge it was barely audible, but deeply unsettling. Smoke rose and shards of blackened armor and tissue fell to the ground as the evangelion stood. Its single red flickered then glowed brightly as another booming note shook the city.

The angel began to screech and shudder as light filled what remained of its body. One more attack to put down this wounded foe, and then it could complete its task.

Unit Zero raised one hand as the angel prepared to fire.

**_ETERNITY BEFORE WHICH ALL FALLS TO DUST!_**

Armor cracked in clouds of ash as black tendrils broke free from Unit Zero's raised arm, clouds of ash all that remained of burned armor sections. Like whips they lashed , some burying themselves in the angel and others in fallen piece of blue crystal on the ground. The angel began to scream.

**_IN ME IS THE SUBSTANCE OF ALL CREATION!_**

The fallen piece of Ramiel was lifted from the ground and pulled back, slamming into Unit Zero hard enough to make it rock back on its heels. The hard crystal turned to bubbling blue magma and flowed over the torso and raised arm of the burned giant. It settled and solidified and where once the chest and arm of the eva were burned flesh, they were now restored in deep blue and black.

**_I AM THE DARK MOTHER OF THE UNIVERSE! YOU WHO PERVERT THE DHARMA BY YOUR VERY PRESENCE WILL BE THE SACRIFICE TO MAKE ME WHOLE!_**

Red lightening arced through black tendrils that had pushed deep within the angel. The blue _thing's_ screaming was broken by the cracks like icebergs and the tearing of crystalline flesh like a thousand nails on a chalkboard

Down within NERV, the collected staff had no input but the cameras above. Both evangelions had stopped transmitting when Unit Zero had been shot the first time. They watched as Unit Zero tore chunks from the trapped angel, first with those black tendrils, then with its hands. The screaming was broken only by the sickening sound of the angel being torn apart and that horrible unsettling roar from Unit Zero, that deep pulsing noise that made the hair on the back of the neck stand on end and stomach clench.

After what seemed like an eternity of the carnage, Unit Zero stood in the center of the city. All that remained of the angel was the glowing red core, to which only tiny shimmers of blue crystal stuck. The evangelion held the core above its head in one hand, regarding it with its single red eye.

The giant had been restored and was covered now in armor in deep blue and black. While the shape and mechanisms had been restored, the form was not the same. The edges were harder, the points sharper. The wedge shaped blades on the knees and elbows had been formed into steep triangular spikes and the fingers were wicked claws with great spikes rising from the knuckles.

The horrible tone filled the air once more and the great muscles clenched and rippled. Unit Zero threw back its head, like the terrible sound was laughter, and crushed the core to dust between its fingers as if it was nothing.

**_Pathetic._**

End

So Rei remembered her true name. Whether or not that is a good thing remains to be seen.

Sorry about the late update! Should probably have another chapter Friday or Saturday. AOACE will not be on an update schedule as I will be confining the story to 10 chapters plus the prologue and will just be posting them as they are finished. The story will follow the old AC formula of nine targets plus the leader, so each chapter will end with a major target's death. Speaking of which…

**Reinserting shameless plug**

Would really love it if you guys checked out my other story, Assassin's Of A Counter Earth. Trying to write a Gor story that breaks the stereotype and…

"He has clearly gone insane, increase the pressure within the plug."

Hey I wasn't finished yet! I also think it neatly solves the AC gun problem because…cause… caaa…


	17. Chapter 17

Hi everyone, just wanted to say I am super sorry about the formatting errors in the previous chapter. Still getting the hang of what keeps and what doesn't show up.

TRIGGER WARNING: So right off the bat this chapter contains a scene in which we learn some about Rei's past. Said past is super messed up and the those for whom childhood sexual abuse is a trigger the presentation may bother you. It is meant to be off putting in the first place but if you are particularly sensitive to the issue you may want to skip down about 1/3rd of the way. Once Rei asks about Shinji wanting to be her boyfriend, you are in the clear.

Chapter 17

Two days before Ramiel attacked…

"Are you sure about this, Rei?" Shinji asked.

"Yes." Rei replied, looking down at her own fidgeting hands.

Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami were together in the former's apartment. It was different from how Vitali had found it. It was clean now, and kept that way, and there were tall and neat stacks of books by the head of the bed. The lock had even been fixed. Shinji was sitting on a short steel stool in the center of the small studio apartment, putting his shirt back on. Rei was standing in front of him, nervous and fidgeting. Her hair had begun to grow out again, and just barely brushed her shoulders now. She cared enough to keep it clean now and it hung mostly straight, her bangs still curving towards her chin just a little.

It had become a ritual between the two, after the first time Shinji had shared the stories behind the multitude of scars across his body. He had cried the first time, and again when Rei sat him down a second time, and then a third. Each time it became easier though and after each time it became easier for Shinji for maintain the peak state, the Shiva state as Shinji thought of it. They had discussed it and Shinji thought it had to do with getting past the emotions he associated with the injuries.

So now, once a week or more, he would sit down here in his girlfriend's apartment. She would blindfold him and touch the marks on his body and ask about them. The blindfold had been her idea and though it had made Shinji nervous at first, it actually helped. Without his eyes, he did not watch where she was moving and he couldn't get anxious if she was moving to a particular mark.

Some were more difficult to talk about than others. If he was having trouble, Rei would push him until he gave details or Shinji said to stop. It was their agreement that if he said stop, that was it and they would be done. Most of their 'sessions' ended with Shinji saying stop when Rei got too close to his hips.

"O-okay. Just like you do me, right?" Shinji said, standing up now.

"No. If I say stop… don't." Rei's hands were shaking as she spoke, so much so she was having trouble with the buttons on her school blouse.

"I don't know if I can. I need you to stop when I say so, and if I don't it feels like, you know…" Shinji said and placed his hands over hers. She stopped shaking and Shinji, not too calm himself, began to undo the buttons for her. Rei put her hands on his shoulders and he looked up into her eyes.

"Please, I need your help. I am so close but… I can't make myself say it, I need you to help me. Force me to tell you and I will finally feel better, I promise. So please… don't stop."

"Okay." Shinji nodded and stepped back so she could finish, her blouse undone and hanging open, still gathered at the waist by her jumper.

Despite spending as much time together as they had, Shinji had never actually seen Rei uncovered until this point. When they slept near to each other, they were always clothed to some point, either because they were down in the dojo with their teachers or in Shinji's room. Shinji had seen her back and shoulders when clothes moved, but that was all and those were smooth and clear.

Rei took off the dress, then her blouse, leaving plain cotton underwear. She was breathing harder now and took a minute, arms wrapped around her body then waving Shinji off as she calmed down.

"I-I-I n-n-neeeed t-t-to b-be aba-aba-able to do this m-m-myself." She said, slowly bringing her body back under control. Another minute and she was breathing normally again. She screwed her eyes shut and pulled the bra off over her head in one quick motion. Her head sunk and she kept her eyes to the floor as she walked past Shinji, snatching the blindfold off the bed and quickly tying it around her head once she had sat down on the stool.

"Do it." She said, her hands clenched around the rim of the seat.

Shinji wasn't sure where to start. It was not that there were too many to choose from, quite the opposite. There were only four… no, three. One curved down below the waist of her panties and came back up.

He circled her, letting his footsteps tell her where he was and looking to be sure those three were the whole of it, and they were. She was still tense, her arms and shoulders tight, and she still shook a little. She shivered when he placed his hand on her shoulder then gently turned her on the swiveling stool so she faced the bed where he then sat down.

Shinji could not remember seeing Rei vulnerable since the very first time he laid eyes on her, in the hanger of the evangelion when he first came to Tokyo-3. Even when she was still bandaged and cast up after that, she never looked so open.

"Shinji… please." She said.

Shinji steeled himself and brought the whole of the force of his will together to do something any other 14-year old boy would have needed no urging to do. He reached out and took his girlfriend's left breast in his hand. It was soft, small, just a little less than palm filling. Both breasts bore the same mark, dull red scars circling the nipple then traveling down into a curved line cupping each. It looked a bit like an anchor. Rei made just a tiny little gasping noise when he squeezed.

"Tell me about these."

"Shinji, I'm sorry, this was a mistake, I-" She began to say, very rapidly, then yelped when he squeezed again, his fingers clawed to press his nails into her flesh.

"Speak… **_I command it_**." Came the voice. It made Rei shiver and moan. This was not the voice of Shinji Ikari. It was the voice of Shiva, calm, even, just a little deeper, and full of authority far beyond the small boy who made the sound.

"Last year, I had just turned thirteen."

"From what?"

"Surgery."

"Surgery for what?"

"The removal of tissues to reduce the size of the breast." She was calm now, her voice distant and clinical. It made Shinji think of old Rei, before the arrival of Remo and Vitali.

"I mean why Rei, why did you need surgery?"

"Because Commander Ikari said they had become too large and no longer bore resemblance to _her_." Over the last word the distance and calm broke. Shinji could hear the anger and sadness and resentment in her voice.

Shinji let go and nearly fell back on the bed. His father had cut Rei open because she did not look like… Shinji started to feel sick. Now that her hair was longer, he could see it. The shape of her jaw, her nose, the lines of her shoulders. Childhood memories came flooding back. Pictures and videos, memories of her face. Shinji's terror at the answer was overwhelmed by his rage at the idea of anybody hurting this trembling girl in front of him.

"Because you didn't look like her…"

Rei had started to jerk and sob now and Shinji quickly wrapped his arms around her.

"Be-be-because he said they didn't look like Yui's…" She said, her arms around him as sobbing racked her body.

Shinji was making a very conscious effort to keep himself composed as he gently pulled Rei onto the bed and helped her to lay across his lap. He had one arm around her shoulders and one beneath her thighs. He had to put effort into staying calm because all the rage and anger born of fear he had been working these past six months to put away had all come back in a great bloody tidal wave. Shinji had not liked his father before, he had thought he hated him. He had not known what hate was before, he did now.

Shinji was personally impressed with himself an hour later, when Rei had fallen silent and they laid together on her bed. He had not exploded, he had not made it about he and his father's problems. Shinji held Rei to his chest and stroked her hair.

"You didn't finish."

"You said a lot Rei, we can go further next time."

Rei shook her head and grabbed his wrist, pulling his hand down between her hips.

"I want you to finish. Please, please… I need to get this out. I am so close. I can finally remember things but its like if I don't talk about them, I can't process it and if I can't process it I can't remember other stuff."

Shinji was silent for a while. He would have said stop by now. She should have. He should stop and make her take a break. He wanted to know now though. His father was a monster, it wasn't like it could get any worse.

"Tell me about this one Rei."

It got worse.

Rei told him about when she was nine and everyone said she did these horrible things. She didn't do them though, it was someone else using her body, but they wouldn't believe her. They called her a liar, and filthy, and lots of bad names and no matter how many times she said she didn't do it they just got more mad and they _took_ things.

They stopped letting her go outside and play after they found Dr. Akagi's cat. But that wasn't her she told Shinji. She watched when someone else used her body and did that. If she had done it, why would she have told them? She knew it was wrong to get the soft kitty outside with food and do those things and leave it pinned to the tree with the knitting needles.

She couldn't live with the commander any more after that poor boy was found. Rei had liked him, he was nice to her even though she looked weird, she wouldn't have done that! That's why she ran and told on the other one using her body had done it as soon as she could. His eyes were pretty brown like Shinji and the commander, she didn't want to pull them out. She would never have wrapped the cord from inside his belly around his neck and pulled until he turned blue and his tongue came out.

Yes she had been the one to try writing her name on the walls. She tried with crayons and it didn't look right, so she tried a pencil, then a pen, then all of her markers, and the tried scratching it in but it still didn't work! After she wore her fingernails down and blood came out though, it started to look kind of right and she almost had it when they found her… Then they said she was sick, and she said she wasn't sick. Then they said the thing making her sick was inside her and they were going to make her better, but she wasn't sick, it was the other one who used her body! It was a boy and he looked weird, like her and he did those things not her, she wasn't sick. They made her go to sleep and when she woke up there were stitches and they said she was better and she had to take these pills.

She had been good, she did as she was told. Rei was a good girl, Rei didn't do nasty things like they said she did. The pills made the fog come and she started forgetting things and when she knew something was wrong she couldn't remember what it was anymore and that's how it had been until Shinji came and then Remo-sensei took the pills away and she could remember again. When she finished, they were silent again for a long time. Shinji held her tight and stroked her head without a word until there was no more light coming through the window and it was dark outside.

"Rei…"

"You don't want to be my boyfriend anymore, do you?"

"No Rei, that's not it…" Shinji pushed back on her forehead softly so she would look at him. He loved her eyes, the unique deep red color. "I love you Rei. I love you for you. I don't care who you look like or what anybody says you did. You're beautiful and you make me happy."

Rei smiled, a full genuine smile that made her look incredible even with the tears and bloodshot in her eyes. She squeezed him tighter and nuzzled him cheek to cheek.

"I love you too, Hunter. Thank you for doing this."

"Anything for you wildflower." He said and kissed her on the forehead. Rei grabbed him by the hair with both hands and kissed him on the lips. That took a while for Shinji to recover from. The good news was he wasn't mad anymore.

Following the battle with Ramiel…

"Captain Katsuragi, let me begin by saying your insight after the fourth angel has proved prescient and your handling of the attack by the Fifth was masterful. I am aware the process may take some time within the strategic self defense force but when the papers for your promotion come across my desk I will approve them immediately."

"Thank you Commander."

"Now Captain, please make your report."

"Yes Commander. Two days ago, the 5th angel was detected over the Indian Ocean. The angel, which was designated Ramiel by the MAGI, aggressively engaged anything which came within an approximately five kilometer radius and selectively engaged targets out to fifty kilometers. Evacuations were made of the city as well as all populated areas within the angel's predicted path. Following that path, the angel arrived in Tokyo-3 airspace shortly before fifteen hundred local time yesterday. We chose to delay deploying the evangelions. After reaching a point directly above the peak of the geofront the angel extended a drill into the ground from its body and began to dig. From the speed of penetration, science division calculated the speed at which the angel might withdraw said drill. I made the call to delay our counterattack until shortly before midnight. We estimated that at that time the angel would have the most difficulty extracting itself from the ground. Because we have focused the capabilities of the evas on close range combat, we could not afford for the angel to retreat to a higher altitude."

Misato slid a notated map across the conference table to Commander Ikari.

"The evas were launched simultaneously from points at a ninety degree angel to the angel. As soon as the units surfaced, the angel fired upon Unit One, at which time Rei in Unit Zero moved into the path of the beam and took the brunt of the attack. At this point, all data feeds, including telemetry and plug data, ceased transmitting from both units. Unit One advanced on the angel, using an AT field to shield itself, before attacking at close range. Unit One caused significant damage before being disabled by a blast at close range."

Pictures were shared around the table, showing Unit One as found by the recovery teams. The chest was blackened with slagged armor and the red core exposed, but the damage was restricted to the surface armor.

"At that time, Unit Zero appears to have entered a berserk state. Using pieces of the angel it completed limited auto-repairs before counter attacking. Unit Zero proceeded to dismantle the angel, apparently in search of additional material with which to repair itself. Very little of the angel was left once repairs were complete, at which point the evangelion destroyed the core."

"And these repairs, as I understand it, have not returned the unit to the state in which it entered combat."

"I'll leave that to science division Commander."

"I see, and the pilots?"

"Rei appears to have not suffered any injuries, she claims to be fine. I am told Shinji suffered sympathetic injuries consistent with a large impact to the chest. He is recovering at NERV medical, Rei is with him."

"Thank you Captain, do you have anything else to add?"

"Well Sir, I have some reservations about Unit Zero, but Dr. Akagi can tell you more about that. What I want you to know is regardless, Unit Zero is our sole operational eva at this point and I do not recommend isolating it."

"Thank you captain, I trust pilot Ayanami enough to keep Unit Zero active. Dr. Akagi, when you are ready."

"Thank you commander. First of all I cannot stress enough how much I disagree with Captain Katsuragi regarding Unit Zero and the first child. I believe both the unit and the pilot should be isolated as soon as possible and we are courting disaster by keeping them on active duty. Ever since the arrival of Mr. Williams and his demand that the first child's treatment be terminated, her behavior has become increasingly combative. Now we have an evangelion which has been adulterated with angelic tissue and clearly modified outside our parameters. Additionally…"

"Dr. Akagi, your objections are noted but until Unit One is repaired I don't see an alternative. Also, neither the pilot nor the evangelion has displayed any hostile behavior. Now, please give your report on the status of the pilots and the evangelions."

"Yes Commander…" Dr. Akagi passed several pictures across the table, showing Unit Zero from various angles.

"During the battle, Unit Zero self repaired by consuming the material of the angel. While the change in exterior color is obvious, we are still exploring the full extent of the effect on the unit. On the surface, various surface angles have been modified and extended. Material analysis indicates a similar alloy as used in the construction of the unit but laced with material similar to recovered portions of both the fourth and fifth angels was created in the repairs. As I discussed with you previously commander, it appears to be a kind of conditional superconductor. Additionally, our techs have found nerve tissue that was not previously present near the spinal column. Otherwise, the unit appears to have been returned to specification. I would like to reiterate that we do not fully understand the consequences of this event yet and that-"

"Dr. Akagi, your reservations have been noted once already. Report on the status of Unit One."

"_Yes, Commander_. Unit One suffered surface damage from an attack by the angel at close range. The force of impact of the attack appeared to have caused several onboard computer systems to reset, thus causing a multitude of system failures. We will retrofit these systems to avoid this happening in the future. Repairs on evangelion Unit One should take minimal time, we designed these internal systems to be easy to replace. Unit One's new torso armor should be complete within the next month, so we will install it in the course of repairs."

"Very good. How are the pilots?"

"As Captain Katsuragi said, the first child appears to be in good condition, however she has refused to submit to testing to determine what if any effects the event have had on her body. She has also refused to leave your son's side."

"Rei's attachment to the third child is documented Dr. Akagi."

"With respect commander, I thought you were going to speak to her about that after the last attack."

"I did…"

Some months ago…

"Thank you for meeting with me Rei, I know we don't talk as much as we used to. How are you holding up?"

"I am fine Commander. I appreciate no longer being required to submit to Dr. Akagi's care."

"So I heard. Rei, I am concerned about rumors I have heard that you have a romantic relationship with the third child. I understand your feelings, I do, but I worry. Shinji is a very troubled boy and I don't want to see you get hurt, you know how I care about you."

"Yes Commander."

"So you will tell him you are strictly friends then?"

"No."

"Rei I want you to end the relationship."

"No."

"Rei, this is an order."

"No."

…

"… It was unproductive."

"Well, Shinji will be fine. Whether his injuries were sympathetic or not I am actually unsure, but they are consistent with a heavy impact to the torso and a rough landing. If there was a failure in the LCL pressure regulation, which is quite possible in this situation, he could have just been banged up inside the plug. Bumps and bruises, a little sore, but he will be fine. I won't have medical hold him any longer than he wishes to stay."

"Very good. Any progress on the data loss?"

"I am sorry to say no. I have my best people on it, but every battle we lose connection and all data we extract afterwards is corrupted beyond recovery."

"Please continue to work on it. Mr. Williams, do you have anything to add?"

"Besides that that was awesome and will go down in the history of the most ancient and noble house of sinanju as one of the most bad ass things ever?! OW!"

"Shut up Vitali. Yes I would to contribute that that was awesome and will go down in the history of the most ancient and noble house of sinanju as one of the most badass things ever."

Gendo Ikari took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Crazy Americans on one side and incomprehensible technology on the other. It was going to be a long week.

At NERV medical, Shinji Ikari felt himself dreaming. Rather, he could tell he was not awake, even with his eyes shut, cause it felt like when he met with vasuki, or that Nurse or… oh yes, this was hers, it had its own flavor. He was going to feel like he was waking up laying in the bland white hospital room and she was going to be there and have some wisdom that would make sense the next time he had to fight an angel, maybe some food. Might as well get it over with.

Shinji Ikari opened his eyes and his senses were assaulted by colors, smells, and sounds. He was in a pavilion of bright purple, green, and blue banners. He sat on a pile of cushions at the head of a long table of unfamiliar food. Unseen musicians drummed and trumpeted. He looked down and found himself wearing layers of brightly colored robes to match his evangelion and a broad gold sash as a belt. He looked around and found Rei seated next to him, red eyes fluttering open. She was wearing blue and gold robes like his own. They looked like someone who wasn't Japanese tried making a kimono.

Okay, this was new.

"All praise to Lord Shiva! All praise to Lady Kali! The destroyer and the great power are together again!" It was the nurse as she stepped through the banners, except she wasn't dressed as a nurse anymore. Her skin was darker and a red circle adorned her forehead. She wore a red robe made up of a single long sash wrapped several times around her body, a sari. Shinji also thought he saw a second set of arms for a second.

Shinji looked to Rei, whose eyes were wide open and her mouth agape.

"Rei.. Rei, you okay?"

"Yes, no, um.. what's going on?"

"You've never had dreams like this?"

"No."

Shinji tried to explain but the music was getting too loud now. This felt like it belonged to the nurse, who was still over at the far end of the table, dancing around. Shinji finally remembered her name for the first time.

"Lakshmi…LAKSHMI!"

She turned.

"TURN IT DOWN!"

She crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air then snapped her fingers and the music stopped.

"You know I am trying to celebrate you two finding each other again." Lakshmi said, crossing both, yes Shinji could now see there were two, sets of arms in front of her. "Your brother and I always had a big party when we met up in the mortal world."

"Shinji…" Shinji and Lakshmi turned to Rei as she spoke. "What the fuck is going on?"

"Oh yeah, this is going to take some explaining. Um, oh here." Shinji lifted a plate from the table for her. "These are dates, try some. So…"

And Shinji told her about how his eva talked to him and how it turned out to be his friend Vasuki and how Lakshmi, he introduced Lakshmi, visited him after battles in the hospital.

Rei decided she liked dates and elected to try the fragrant fowl dish next to it next.

Then Shinji explained how he had slowly been finding out he was an avatar of Shiva, the god of destruction, but like the good kind too, and Vasuki was actually a naga which is like a snake but don't call him that.

Rei quite liked it and asked Lakshmi what it was and was told it was duck in a curry sauce.

Then Shinji told her how in the last fight she had declared her name was Kali and that was really cool she had remembered her name and… shut up when Rei put a piece of duck breast in his mouth.

"It means we are the same. I know this and the details are unimportant"

"Yes." Shinji said after swallowing the duck.

"Then I knew from the beginning. You are the destroyer and I am the power, we are meant to be together, this life and all others, is that correct?"

"Absolutely! Oh its wonderful to see you two together again." Lakshmi said and knelt beside them before pulling them both to her in a hug.

"You are both doing wonderfully out there, we are all impressed. Is there anything either of you need? Just say so and we will do everything we can."

Shinji shrugged. "I just wish we didn't have to do summer classes, but there isn't anything I need. What about you Rei?"

"Vasuki, the naga, he has been mentoring you in your sleep?"

"Sometimes, yeah."

"So that explains why you're better than me. I need a mentor so you don't have such an unfair advantage. Cheater."

"How long is it going to take you to let that go?"

"I have not decided yet." Rei said and crossed her arms, while Lakshmi laughed.

Shinji sighed and grabbed another dish from the table. This was going to be a long dream.

It felt like hours later when Shinji actually did wake up, in a bland white hospital room, with Rei sitting in a chair next to his bed. Light streamed into the room, it was morning. She woke up and yawned as she stretched her arms above her head.

"Oh I had the funniest dream." She said and as she opened her mouth to tell him Shinji interrupted.

"I'll make you curry duck as soon as I learn how."

"Oh good, it was real, even better." She said and hugged him. "It is good to remember who we are, warrior."

"Warrior? No Hunter?"

"Before now there was only one hunter of angels, it is no longer unique."

"Uh huh."

"The nurse said Dr. Akagi just wanted you to rest and you could leave when you liked. I had them bring your things so if you want to get dressed, we can go."

"Yeah I'd like that." Shinji said and turned to swing his legs off the bed. Oooooh he regretted that. He should have known, every time he woke up here his whole body ached.

"Um, Rei… Could you turn around?"

"Why?"

"Because I don't have anything on under this gown."

Rei cocked her head.

"I'm still not comfortable about that okay? Its not you, its just me being stupid." Shinji said, hanging his head. To his surprise, Rei kissed him on the cheek and turned around with a smile.

Shinji dressed, made sure his phone and wallet were there, and they checked out. Shinji was back in his school uniform and vans, shirt untucked. He called Misato once they were outside and let her know.

As they walked down the sidewalk in the direction of the Katsuragi apartment, Shinji was surprised to see cars on the road. It looked like they were already letting people back into town. He could still see the cordons the city center though.

"Anything you want to do, warrior?"

Shinji shrugged. "I guess between school and training, I haven't really thought about just going out and doing anything, you know?"

"I can understand that. Do you think if we asked, Remo-sensei would allow us a day from training before summer classes start so we can have a day out?"

"You mean like a date?

"Yes, among other things. You need new clothes."

"I was hoping nobody else had noticed." Shinji said, scratching the back of his head. It was true though, and it wasn't just his school uniform. His shoes and socks fit right and that was about it now. As he dropped his hand, Rei grabbed it and squeezed. They walked the rest of the way like that, hand in hand.

…

End

So that first portion may have come off as kind of twistedly sexual. For the participants, it wasn't sexual at all. I intentionally presented it the way I did for a few reasons.

First I think underage sex in eva fics is too prevalent. It should gross us out to read about 14 year olds getting' it on. Second, and more importantly, to the characters it is not sexual because both of them still have way too many issues to have healthy sexual attitudes. Rei is, under the weirdness and developing lady of war in this story, emotionally developed as a young child. Shinji just has way too much going on and in another story may have just ended up as asexual.

Oh and my least favorite character in eva canon makes an appearance in this chapter. Y'all thought I hated Gendo.


	18. Chapter 18

Author notes:

So I will admit, going into this I had pretensions of having a pretty epic story, to say something meaningful. That was silly. This is inspired by pulp, it is pulp, and we read pulp to have fun, not to learn something.

Also, this chapter holds the record so far in that I completely rewrote the events maybe 5 or 6 times before I was happy with them.

Warnings: Violent. Then again if you need to be warned about that, reading this fic may not have been the best idea in the world, just saying.

Chapter 18

"Good morning my children!"

"Good morning sensei." Both pilots replied. It was not a good morning. Turns out taking a long nap in the afternoon does not lead to a good nights sleep.

"First, well done, dead angel, good stuff, you do the house of Sinanju proud." Remo said as he began to pace in front of his students as was his habit.

"Thank you sensei." They said together and bowed.

"Secondly, you bring great shame upon the house of Sinanju and its very name with your horrible forms and letting yourself get hit by that big dumb flying thing."

"But Sensei, I blocked it with the AT field, isn't that just as good? It was too fast to dodge." Shinji said, apparently a little too close to whining since his reward was a strike upside the head.

"My foolish child you betray your ignorance but reveal a jewel of wisdom that needs only be polished. It is indeed very nearly impossible to dodge a bullet, or any similar attack, once it has been aimed and launched. Today we are going to learn the first trick my master demonstrated to me. The ability to read an opponent and use your own movement to prevent him from aquiring you as a target. To the ignorant man, who will attempt to attack anyway you will appear to be reacting to his attack, when in reality, you are controlling his actions…" Remo stopped suddenly and turned to face the pilots, a wicked smile on his lips.

"… In other words, today you learn how to dodge bullets."

…

"What?"

…

"Remo-sensei, I have a question." Shinji said during a break for food and rest some time later.

"Well, and maybe I am just overthinking it, but the way we are training for this, it doesn't seem like it is for fighting the angels. I mean the first two were both trying to hit me up close, but when this one shot at us, it wasn't like a gun or a rock. I mean I know there are limits to what we can do down here but... I dunno, it just seems like you are teaching us to fight people more than anything."

Remo put his bowl down with a sigh. "Well no way around it, that is pretty much what we're doing here. Part of it is that's what the house of Sinanju has done for ages. I would be dishonest to say I do not worry though."

"Why do you worry Sensei?" Rei asked.

"Well my daughter, because in ages past the reputation of sinanju was such the village and its master were left well enough alone. When I was learning, I worked for an organization that took care to stay secret, and even then faced attack here and there. I have come to find out that this is not the case here, that our names and our professions are out for all to see. And so I worry, not for my own safety, but for those of you three, my children who I have shaped with my heart and my will. I had been a student of this art for nearly two decades before I learned what I am teaching you here today and for as long as it takes you to master it. Even though you fight for the lives of everyone on this world, there are those crazy or stupid enough to try for your life, little daughter. I do what I do so that they may learn a final lesson before they die, that you should live. The house of Sinanju is not to be _fucked with_."

Cups were tapped and a drink had to that, water though it was.

* * *

><p>A week hence…<p>

On the one hand, Remo had begun to enjoy the regular time away from training now that the kids were in school most days. On the other, it left him no excuse not to attend staff meetings. So many meetings. It was like the Japanese had to come to a consensus on everything, or (and more likely in Remo's opinion) the commander was just a control freak.

They were so serious about them too. Remo had blown them off the first day the kids were back in school, so the second day they locked down all the hallways between his quarters and the conference room, then programmed the elevators so they would only go to the one floor. As he walked down the hall, steel shutters would close off the hallway behind him. It was just a meeting for christssake!

They were talking about the provisions and emergency supply budget right now. Remo did not include himself in 'they' because he was engaging in an ancient and most honored practice of Sinanju masters through the ages. Turning off one's brain to rest while appearing completely awake. A very important and productive mental exercise, at least more so than attending this damned meeting.

Remo was in such a state when the double doors to the conference room swung open to show Lt. Maya Ibuki, pent over panting after having sprinted there from the command bridge several levels above.

"Commander! There's been an attack in the city!"

"The procedures for an angel attack are quite clear Lieutenant, why are you here and not on the bridge doing your job? And why ahsn't the alarm been sounded?"

"Its not an angel attack Sir! An armed force has taken the grounds of Tokyo-3 secondary and they demand to speak with you."

"This issue is tabled. Major Katsuragi, please come with me. Mr. Williams, I understand you have significant experience in counter-terrorism, I would appreciate your presence as well." Gendo Ikari did not make demands of that man. He knew to order him about was to invite embarrassment.

"Well since you ask so nicely Commander." Remo rose from his seat and followed.

* * *

><p>"Commander Ikari of NERV?" a modulated voice came over a phone line on speaker for the entire bridge. The line itself was secret and section 2 was already attempting to find out how anyone even knew about it.<p>

"Yes, you are speaking to the commander of NERV. Now who are you and what do you want?" Gendo said, perched at the top of the bridge, hands steepled beneath his nose. For all the emotion in his voice he could be talking about the weather.

"Ah yes, to business as always, the great Gendo Ikari. It has come to our attention that you are harboring the fugitive Remo Williams, yes. Mr. Williams has something that belongs to us, yes, the results of an experiment. As you are aware, we are now in possession of a school full of children, yes. You will see that no aircraft approach us as we have surface to air missles stationed on top of each building, yes, and will engage any craft, civilian or military, that comes near. We know your son attends this school Gendo Ikari, yes. Comply with our demands and nobody will be harmed you see, all the little children go home safe and sound. Do you understand Ikari?"

"You have yet to enumerate your demands, so compliance is somewhat problematic, mister…?"

"You don't need to know my name Ikari, you only need to know that you will turn over Remo Williams and what belongs to us. You will do so within the hour or we will begin executing these lovely little children, starting with your son, yes."

"I will require a few moments to coordinate with my staff, please hold."

"Hold? Wha-" The voice was cut off at the press of a button.

"Mr. Williams, I was not aware you were wanted for any crimes. Do you know anything about these people or what stolen property they mean?"

"Yeah, I got a pretty good idea. Rogue Russians doing some nasty experiments in Komchatka. Found'em on a freelance job in '02. Only crime there was that bunch of monsters calling themselves soldiers. Just a sec…" Remo picked up the intercom handset and dialed the code for his quarters.

"Hey Vitali, get your ass to the bridge, old friends have come calling." Remo said then hung up the handset.

"I found my young ward there in a cage. Best I can tell he was the result of some late soviet super soldier program. Sounds like they want us both."

"I see, and what do you propose we do about it."

Remo grinned. It was an evil thing, like all the light around him just backed away in fear and anyone looking at him just saw teeth and light catching off his eyes.

"Well Commander, that depends."

"On?"

"Do we know how many there are?"

"Well Major, do we?"

Misato looked to the bridge crew expectantly.

"Sir, surveillance at the school has been disabled, but between cameras, audio, and other tech Section 2 has in the area, we estimate between 30 and 50 hostile actors. What footage we have shows they are heavily armed."

"That isn't so bad, could ya pull a picture up for me Lt. Makato?"

"Yes Sir, here."

"Oh yeah, You don't get much more Russian than that."

Vitali entered at this moment.

"Ah my honorable son, look who has come to say hello. Colonel Cazmanov."

"Mr. Williams, what do you propose?" Gendo demanded, he was becoming impatient.

"Commander, it is my suggestion that you give them exactly what they want: Enough rope to hang themselves. There are already two night tigers in that school, and they want two more. Way I figure that is three more than absolutely necessary to end the situation."

"You have a plan then?"

"You could say that."

Gendo brought the line back on. "I do apologize for the delay. NERV agrees to your demands, Mr. Williams will be arriving shortly."

"… What?" Came the modulated voice on the line

"Did I stutter? We agree to your demands."

"Oh… well… good!"

Remo mouthed to Gendo "call him Leonid".

"Please contact us again when you are ready to leave and we will see to your safe passage out of the country, Leonid." Gendo said and reached down to cut the line.

"How the-" the caller was cut off for a second time in 5 minutes.

"Mr. Williams I certainly hope you know what you are doing."

"Commander, there is nothing I know how to do better. Vitali, you ready for some good ol fashioned revenge?"

The sound that came from the younger man was so guttural and growling that it took Misato a moment to realize it was laughter. She had never noticed his eyes before and she thought how strange it was that she never saw something so obvious. Maybe she had just thought they were hazel, but in that moment she could see they were pure gold.

"I'm ready Ssem, but didn't you say you tired of all those code names? I want my own name back."

"You know it was just a note on your cage, right?"

"Yeah, but its mine. A name's is a thing of power, an identity. You take away a man's name; you take away what he is down to his very core. 'Sides, only changed it to hide from those losers, not like that's gonna be a problem after today."

"Alright, I can understand that… You ready to do this, Viral?" Remo asked.

"Hell yeah!"

Just then the phone on Gendo Ikari's desk, the private, secret one, rang again. He picked it up.

"This is commander Ikari, speak… yes… they moved the test up?" The commander began to rub the bridge of his nose, pushing his glasses off his face. "And it did what you say?... Yes of course, minister, I am absolutely shocked. NERV will of course be happy to assist… I'm sorry what?... What are you talking about "that person" like I am supposed to know who you mean, I'll use whatever person or persons gets the job done… Yes he is currently employed here, he is the martial arts teacher… Yes minister, good bye." Gendo slammed the phone down and reset his glasses on his face.

"Mr. Williams, I need you for something else…"

* * *

><p>Colonel Leonid Cazmanov, formally of GRU spetznaz, first of the USSR, then of the Russian Republic, was worried. While NERV had just agreed to his demands, perhaps a little too quickly, this was not his primary concern. His chief worries at the moment were that he didn't actually know where Gendo Ikari's son was and that he was losing communication with his men in the middle school at an alarming rate. Knowing what he did of the father, he had the sinking feeling the two problems were directly related. Colonel Cazmanov was right.<p>

The colonel had set up his command center in the high school building of Tokyo-3 Secondary School, catty corner across the field from the middle school. His men were equipped in a way befitting one of Russia's most feared special operations units, including suppressors on their weapons. As such, the sounds of gunfire did not make it to the Colonel's ears.

* * *

><p>The first kill had been reflex. Rei had vaulted another student's shoulders to take the soldier dressed in black as he entered the room. It was good, he was dead before he hit the ground. Quiet too, the only sound the man made was when he hit the floor. There had been cries from the other students, but they were quickly shushed. The body was moved and the door shut.<p>

With their elderly language teacher cowering under his desk and muttering to himself the pilots were arguing, quietly, their next course of action.

"We don't even know how many there are." Shinji said in admirably quiet panic.

"We kill giant monsters as an after school activity." Rei quipped, deadpan.

"We don't have the evas!"

"We don't need them. I do not see why you are worried, you are even better at avoiding fire than me. Likely cheating."

"Will you let that go already!"

"No."

"Rei this isn't the time…"

Both stopped and turned when they heard the gun actioned inside the room.

Kensuke Aida had removed the dead soldier's weapon, removing the clips that held the sling to slide it off the body, then reattaching and adjusting it around himself. The AK-74u was a short weapon and combined with the shorter length of most Kalashnikov stocks he could shoulder it comfortably. He made his chamber and magazine checks by touch as he probed the dead man's body with his foot.

Ken kneeled down and pulled extra magazines from the man's load bearing vest. He considered stripping it off the corpse, but the soldier had been a big man and it would not have fit. He shoved a magazine in each front pocket and another in the left back, opposite his wallet.

A quick examination of the weapon confirmed the barrel extension was indeed a suppressor; the handguard had been replaced with a 3rd party model (Ken figured likely Chinese from the roll marks and cheap plastic materials) with rail space mounting a vertical grip. The after market handguard's fit was acceptable, though not great. Ken was also pleasantly surprised to find an American safety, or at least a good copy of the "Kreb" model. It made it easier to use with his small hands.

Finally, Ken pulled the man's knife from its sheath and held it in his left hand against the aluminum vertical grip of the weapon. It was thin enough to work. He pointed-in out the window and liked how it felt, everything was good and tight. He wasn't big, but the little carbine was tiny.

"Uh, Ken…" Shinji said in a voice he hoped was calm and even.

"Oh sorry, got a little absorbed, what's up?" Kensuke replied, smiling and looking up like he had been engrossed in a particularly good book.

"The hell are you doing?"

"Looting materiel."

"Oh… good…" Shinji said before instinctively flowing out of the way as Ken leveled the gun at the door. He fired in a two round burst just as the door opened and another man in black fell dead.

"Thank you for contributing to and I think solving our discussion on what to do next Aida-san."

"No problem, Ayanami-san."

"Goddamit, these are people, we aren't going to just go slaughter them." Shinji snapped, not even caring about being quiet with the sounds of boots starting to echo in the hallway.

Rei turned and locked eyes with him. "People? Animals? Angels? There is no difference Warrior. They come to harm us and those we protect. They would hurt us and our people." Rei did not break eye contact as she lashed out with one hand and took a man's head from his shoulders in a flash of orange light.

"_I will not abide weakness Shiva._" She said, faint light coming from her crimson eyes. "_We are the destroyer. We protect humanity, even from other humans._"

It was sympathetic reaction when Shinji's own power flared along with Rei's, and it was reflex that began the process of quick breaths speeding blood. Shinji tasted salt in his mouth before the state took him. He was still there, he was in control, but his fears were forgotten and his resolve became steel. He was created, the destroyer, and damn if it didn't feel _good_.

They moved into the hallway together, Shinji turning right and Rei left. Four men on each side leveled their weapons. Facing night tigers, it was their final mistake. Bursts of fire were countered with inhuman roars. Wherever the soldiers aimed, the children just weren't there anymore. Like fools they fired anyway, sometimes even sending rounds towards their own allies.

There was a loud POP and a gust of wind as Shinji charged. His knee met the first man's chest as a knife hand strike to the face ended him as the body fell. Shinji was off the corpse before it hit the ground and took the next with a round house kick. He drove his right foot, leading with the big toe, between the vertebrae of the soldier's neck, separating them and leaving the man to choke on air his lungs could not draw in. The third man died as his body was twisted around as a shield, by his own comrade's bullets. Shinji took the final man with a spear hand to the chest that met a hard armor plate. The man was thrown against the wall hard enough to leave a spiderweb of cracks and slumped the ground. He also died for lack of air, due to the fact his lungs, along with the rest of the contents of his thoracic cavity, had become a soup not dissimilar to LCL.

Rei's approach was more artful, but no less deadly. She danced among the guns and blades, removing the hands holding the guns and the heads of the soldiers with graceful swings of her arms. The final one she cut through the neck then launched the body away with a forward kick to the chest. As the head fell she ripped the helmet from it and caught it by the hair, catching the helmet upside down on her fingertips in the other hand, ending with the blood draining from the neck into the helmet it had been below.

Ken had stayed back, covering the stairwell across from the door. Measured bursts and diligent tactical reloads kept men coming up from below at bay. He didn't let the magazine run dry, that was a particularly time consuming error with the Kalashnikov series. The guns lacked bolt hold open on the last round, which meant reloading with a dry chamber took more time as one had to rack the bolt. Stoner based designs it was not such a problem. With a magazine still in the weapon, Ken would take split seconds to check the partially full magazines on the floor by pushing against the top round. The greater the resistance, the more ammunition was left in the magazine. When he did change mags, he would strike the old mag near the bottom to it would rock out and fall down instead of forward.

Just like camp. Camp had been _fun_.

Shinji and Rei had both finished their targets and turned back to see Ken advance out of the classroom, tunnel vision focused on the stairwell leading down. The stairwell leading up led only to the roof. Kensuke had not considered the position the roof offered to cover the grounds, nor did he know about the anti-aircraft weapons the enemy had. So he did not consider the men coming down from the roof. The angle was such neither Rei nor Shinji saw the shot that took Ken, only the red mist that burst from the right side of his head before he went down.

Both pilots rushed forward and it was Shinji who took vengeance. He raised one open hand and in a flash of light men, cloth, and metal became a single layer against the wall.

Rei was at Ken's side. She was relieved to find him breathing. His right eye was gone and there was blood matted through his hair, but he looked up at her with his remaining eye. It looked like the bullet had passed through his eye and out of the side of his skull. One hand still held his weapon against his chest, and the other reached up to Rei.

Shinji had mounted the stairs now, and impacts shook the walls as he disposed of the men on the roof.

Rei kneeled beside Ken and took him in her arms, one behind his shoulders and the other under his knees. He touched her cheek with his blood stained hand and she kissed it then shushed him as he tried to talk. He was crying and choked on his words.

"Ssssssh warrior. You are injured, but you will survive."

Rei held Ken to her chest and he pulled the remnants of his glasses from his face then pressed himself to her chest. Ken had not known his mother. His father had said she died when he was a little baby. He had seen pictures, but attached no emotion to them. He had no memory of what it was to be held by one's mother, but somehow he knew this is what is must feel like.

"You fought well." Rei said, and Kensuke smiled.

Shinji felt tired, he was nearing his limit. He considered for the first time since they had begun fighting that there may be too many. He had found four more on the roof. All of them had been holding the big tubes he figured were rocket launchers or something with their little guns either on the ground or hanging from their straps. Either way, none of them got to them fast enough. Shinji decided this was not a bad place to sit down and stretched his legs out with his back against the short retaining wall around the roof. At least there was only one way for anybody to come up. Rei soon joined him, sitting the unconscious but alive Kensuke up beside them.

"I suppose we should probably go help the high school students." Rei said before they heard a shout from below.

"I am Viral Genomevich and I am going to tell you two things! First, I am nobody's experiment! Second, all of your miserable lives belong to me now!

Shinji shrugged. "Sounds like it is under control."

* * *

><p>Viral smelled death and gunpowder from the middle school but heard nothing. He could feel that weird little static in the air from when pilots did their special trick and took it to mean they had the situation taken care of. He focused his attention on the high school building.<p>

He was running for the wide entry doors. He wore only dark pants and a red t-shirt, and his bare feet barely kicked up dust as he crossed the schoolyard. Two men who came out of the doors guns blazing hit only air and died with their sternums driven through their hearts.

"Oh Uncle Leoniiiiiiiiid, come out come out wherever you are!"

Viral was not like the younger students, his brother and sister as he thought of them. They were sloppy, they made mistakes. As Viral made his way through the school building, most of his targets died without even knowing he was there. His movements made no sound, and even if one looked straight at him, they saw if anything a blur, or more likely something their brain told them not to look at.

He left the halls behind him as an abattoir, bodies left where they fell and blood streaked and splattered across the floors, walls, and ceiling. This was not savagery on Viral's part. He knew better than to go into a fight like this with emotion fueling him. There were children's lives at stake here, he had to be fast and perfect.

When he did find Colonel Cazmanov, the fat old man had a pretty young teacher at gun point. Viral laughed when he demanded that Viral comply and come with him. He actually took the gun away and knocked the fat Russian out with one thrown stapler. Viral even allowed himself a celebration when the stapler fell down and hit him on the head again after he was on the floor with a satisfying ka-chunk as it went off on the old man's head. Good times.

* * *

><p>When the pilots met up with their younger teacher, children were being escorted from the school and a combination of NERV and local police were combing the school for bodies and evidence. Viral was dragging the groaning fat body of a bald Russian man in a too small uniform, and Shinji was propping up Kensuke. Ken's absent eye was covered by a soaked through impromptu bandage made from some girl's dress, and he still had the little carbine slung across his chest. Amazing how much nicer everyone gets when you shoot bad guys and your super powered friends start asking for help.<p>

"Hey looks like you all had fun. Nice shiner there kid." Viral said with a grin. Ken raised him a thumbs up before slumping back onto Shinji's shoulders.

"What do you have there Vitali-sensei?" Rei said and pointed towards the fat man he was dragging behind him.

"Yeah sorry, Vitali was kinda a false name since we were on the run from this guy. That's not a problem anymore though, so you can call me Viral. This guy is a piece of shit, I'll tell ya about him some other time."

"We heard." Shinji quipped, adjusting Ken's arm across his shoulders. "So where is Remo-sensei?"

"Yeah something else came up that he had to attend to, I'm sure they'll tell you about it later. Lets get your buddy there to the doctor."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, "something else" was happening…<p>

It was loud inside the NERV VTOL, even with the doors shut. Remo Williams sat in the jump seat. He had been ready to go in casuals, but the newly minted major wasn't budging and he wanted to get to the matter at hand, so he wore a set of dark blue NERV BDUs with a radio on his belt hooked up to an ear bud and a throat mic. Least with that stuff it would not get in the way.

"Mr. Williams, we are nearing the target. Might be shaky but I think I can get you close enough to fast rope down to the top." Came the voice in his ear from the pilot. Remo held the microphone against his throat to respond.

"Not necessary Warrant, just put me on the ground about a click in front of the thing."

"I'm not a warrant officer Mr. Williams, I'm a flight Lt."

"Whatever, just put me down and take up a loiter, the Major wants video of this."

"Aye aye."

Remo felt his stomach turn when the VTOL turned and rotated its engines at the same time, then the impact as it set down. It felt nothing like riding a Hus in the Marine Corps and even with a good pilot, several tons of metal strapped between two engines even bigger than the body does nothing gently. Remo slapped the central buckle to release the harness then slid the door open and stepped out onto the dirt. He slammed the door shut and banged twice on the metal skin before moving away, signaling the pilot that he could go.

Once the VTOL and its thundering engines took off, Remo could feel the vibrations through the ground as huge machine approached. Remo smiled at the mechanical behemoth. He found the evangelions off putting, but he would admit they were graceful in a way. This thing was even bigger than the evas and it was unganly, even clumsy looking. Each step looked like it was falling forward and catching itself.

"Testing testing, Major Katsuragi, do ya hear me?"

"Loud and clear Mr. Williams."

"Hi everyone, I'm Remo Williams and welcome to jackass…" Remo said as he stretched his shoulders. A little less then one kilometer ahead of him, and closing, was the shambling nuclear reactor with guns.

"…This is Remo Vs. Jet Alone."

Remo had once been recorded as running at one hundred miles per hour. This was not the fastest he had ever run, that was just the only time anybody was pointing a radar gun at him. Remo covered the distance between him and the giant robot in three seconds, the ground cratered with gunfire from numerous onboard weapons behind him. When he whipped his entire body around to swing his fist, the sonic boom was lost in the crunching and groaning of metal as Jet Alone's right ankle was turned to slag.

The war machine shuddered and began to fall before emergency systems took over and rebalanced. As it limped on Remo was already climbing past the knee joint, which he expected to fail in another five steps or so. When it did and Jet Alone lurched again, catching itself on its long arms, Remo was ready. As the shudder of impact traveled through the machine, Remo drove his fist into the relatively thin armor surrounding the complex balancing mechanisms below the abdomen. Two more strikes and the whole system jammed solid and the robot fell to the ground.

Remo climbed up to the top of the unit, where the neck would be if the ugly thing had a head and looked out at the city it had been marching towards, still many miles distant.

"And the day is saved again, thanks to-" Remo was interrupted as the machine shuddered and returned to life, dragging itself along with its arms.

"Really? REALLY? Just give and die already!" Remo grumbled loudly to himself as he made his way to the unit's left shoulder. Tearing the armor plate away was easy and one open palmed strike was enough to make the segmented joints along the arm shake themselves apart. Remo climbed back out and took the two dozen meter drop to the ground. With his hands on his hips, facing into the sun that had just begun to set, Remo smiled.

"As I was saying, once again the day…" With a groan of bending steel, the last functioning limb, the right arm, came around with its palm facing Remo. The aperture in the center opened and Remo saw the stubby barrel of the internal beam weapon, turning on its gimble joints before centering on him.

"Oh crap."

Remo ran as fast as he could while still able to change direction. Once the beam fired, the mount, the wrist, and the arm gave it more than enough flexibility to follow Remo as he juked and weaved. The scariest part was each time he dodged it missed him by that much less. When the blue uniform began to singe, Remo knew he had to end this now. If he ran, it could just start dragging itself again. Too much risk of fallout or meltdown with conventional weapons, it would just take too much ordinance to be precise.

Remo took the heat to dig in just enough and get a good launch off the ground. He ran straight for the "face", the wide panel of cameras around the central computer that looked like a Cheshire smile. The thing can learn, he knew that from the beam getting closer. It can prioritize a threat, otherwise it would have tried to kill him while he climbing up. He was not a threat to its mission, whatever that was, until he had thoroughly damaged it.

If it can learn and make judgments, then it can be fooled.

Remo leaped into the air, arm drawn back to punch straight through the sensor deck and into the computer core, his entire body coiled like a spring to power the blow. When the strike came though, it was not a battering ram, but the tap of a hammer as Remo flipped himself back into the air with just a finger tip.

Having judged the sacrifice of the more sensitive equipment acceptable to the termination of the threat, Jet Alone shot itself in the face, and as glass shattered and shrapnel spread, blinded itself. In the moment it took to recalibrate, Remo was at the remaining shoulder, one hand dug under the armor.

"Sorry about that sweetheart…"

With a roar, Remo began to run, dragging one hand behind him and flaying the armor open as he traveled the path from shoulder to hand. As the arm tried to move, to flail, to throw the human off, something, anything, the ripped open segments jammed together and struggling only made it worse. Joints began to strain and servos overheat

Remo jumped from atop the clawed hand and grabbed hold, bringing the weakened arm down with him. In the split second before he hit the ground, Remo cracked the arm like a whip. The whole assemblage slammed against the ground and burst into a million warped metal little pieces.

"But that's the biz!"

Remo stood with arms across his chest, grinning ear to ear, as the huge mech struggled uselessly on maimed limbs. He laughed even harder when it tried to extract the cooling rods and overload its reactor and the mechanisms jammed.

In his ear, over the radio, Remo heard the voice of Major Misato Katsuragi

"We are NERV! We are the undefeated army! Our pilot's martial arts teacher just beat up your dinky rival project on the same day we were dealing with some half-ass terrorist's bullshit! Who the hell do you think we are?!"

Across the world, a girl watched television.

_"Hey, all you watching! We are NERV! We are the undefeated army! Our pilot's martial arts teacher just beat up your dinky rival project on the same day we were dealing with some half-ass terrorist's bullshit! Who the hell do you think we are?!"_

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, that was so cool!" She squealed. "Wasn't that awesome Master Kaji, wasn't it wasn't it? I mean the first one when the third child killed the angel with its own arm, then the worm, and then when they killed the fifth together. I can't wait to go to Japan, this is gonna be awesome! Their teacher is soooo cool, I mean not as cool as you of course, you just haven't had need to destroy a giant robot on your own, I am sure you could and waaaaaay more gracefully and and and…"

chapter end

* * *

><p>Notes:<p>

-So its not an angel, but that will come later. Never Learned To Code, consider your request fulfilled. It was better than what I had planned anyway.

-Yes, that Viral. Yes, from TTGL. I was going to tease it out some more, but in the interest of a faster, more fun story, I decided to get it out there now. Was probably pretty obvious anyway.

-Kensuke is rather competent, and it's not from playing war games. Explanations, and why Toji was nowhere to be found, in coming chapters.

-I am not sure how well it is working out, you all can tell me, but when it comes to something that one character is knowledgeable about but another is not, I am trying to save the detail for when it is from the knowledgeable characters perspective. For example, Shinji and Misato's car early on. In this case, to Shinji or just about anyone else, the gun is a gun. But Ken is a gun nut, which I can empathize with, thus its not just a gun. On that note Ken does make mistakes, but that's the difference between knowledge and experience.

-For my navy readers: I wasn't navy but I imagine NERV to be most like the navy in structure. Large crews working to service and maintain large-scale combat assets with one army officer on loan from the JSSDF land forces in the mix. I think it explains NERV being run by a commander, which as far as I know is like an Lt Colonel equivalent in the Navy, so up there but not general officer. Point is, if I screw something like that up, LET ME KNOW.


	19. Chapter 19

I hesitate to call this chapter filler, but its basically the going-ons between the attack on the school and the next big fight. So I am posting this Thursday night and you all are going to get the big excitement Friday evening. This is not good technique to me but I told y'all at the start that I am not a good writer.

Trishula: enough crack to make Rob Ford blush.

Chapter 19

"Dude, what the hell happened?!"

Toji Suzahara was screaming into a payphone in the lobby of a hotel in downtown Kyoto-2.

"Okay, so these Russian guys, they looked like spetsnaz but they were a bunch of pussies, attacked the school right? And I mean I don't know what they were thinking with the pilots there. So Rei takes one out, then I grab the guy's gun, then Shinji, Rei and me go kicking ass. Dude, if you had been there it would have been perfect. Then I got hit and it all kinda got fuzzy from there."

"You got hit?"

"Yeah right in the eye, I didn't know anything could hurt that bad. Doc says the bullet missed my brain though."

"Wait a minute, you mean you got shot? In the head?!"

"Yeah, pretty badass right? They patched me up and they are gonna rebuild the side of my head, but the eye was a total loss, nothing but goop in the socket. It was kinda dripping out and…"

"Man, waaaaay too much information. So you only have one eye, was anyone else hurt?"

"No man that was the cool thing. Shinji and Rei took out the rest of the guys in our building and one of their teachers showed up and saved the highschoolers. Anyway, rest of the school year is cancelled."

"Dude… that's heavy shit."

"Indeed my friend. Anyway, how did the tournament go?"

"You got in a gunfight and you want to know how a stupid karate tournament went?"

"Well yeah, when my best friend was all ready to take it!"

"Ugh, I got fucking robbed. Bullshit penalty. I had the guy but they gave him the win, cause _apparently_ laughing when his elbow bent the wrong was unsportsmanlike conduct, whatever the hell that means."

"So what, you get kicked out early?"

"Hell no, that was the final bout! I got second."

"Hey second best under fifteen in Japan ain't bad."

"Dude, under twenty, they stopped letting me in the school kid brackets after last year, remember?"

"Even better. When you going to be back?"

"Leaving tomorrow. How long you going to be in the hospital?"

"Dunno, they want me to talk to a shrink before they decide."

"Oh well, you're doomed then."

"Man screw you… talk to you when you get back, okay?"

"Yeah man, glad you are okay."

As Ken lay in the hospital bed after hanging up the phone, he simultaneously felt very comfortable in his own skin and decidedly not okay. It had been two days since the attack. He spent most of the first day knocked out while they picked skull fragments out and cleaned out his eye socket. When he woke up he asked what happened to his gun and was pissed he couldn't keep it. It was his man, he fought with it, he killed with it, Ken thought he should be able to keep it.

There was nothing left of his right eye but some goop. He had met with a plastic surgeon earlier in the morning. NERV was paying for everything, and the doctor said they would be able to make the shape right again. When he had started talking about glass eyes, Ken had told him he didn't want one. If he wanted one later he could get it made, but for now, he wanted it out for everyone to see. Well not "out" out, he'd wear an eyepatch. He fought alongside the pilots to defend their people. That's what Rei had called them, she used the possessive. She was amazing.

Ken was not sure what he saw in Rei. It wasn't attraction. She was pretty and all, but she was Shinji's and that's not what Ken felt. He admired her. Like he shot guys yeah, but she was flowing around them like water, taking them out with her bare hands. She was something else, like not even human. Like she was noble, but the kind even kings and emperors bowed to.

Ken was roused from his wool gathering by a knock on the door. It felt like he had dozed off.

"Come in." He said as he scooted up to a sitting position on the pillows. A nurse entered, he had seen her off an on while he was there. It was weird, everyone wore blue and green scrubs here, but she was always wearing one of those old school white outfits.

"Hello young man, and how are we this evening?"

"I'm good ma'am. The pain is still there, but its just kind of dull and _there_ not like its flaring up or or anything."

"That is good to hear. I thought you might be bored, so I brought you a book. When you came in, Shinji Ikari was with you, right?"

"Yeah, he carried me out of there."

"So you are friends?"

"Yeah, he tells me I was the first friend he made here."

"That is wonderful to hear. I attended to him after the first angels and he was always such a dear. He liked this one so I thought you might too. You are fluent in English, right? The translation is a little smoother than Japanese." She sat down on the bed next to his legs and gave him the little hardbound book.

"Oh the Bhagavad Gita, I saw this when Shinji was reading it. Kept buggin' him to lend it to me but he always forgot." Ken said and flipped through the pages. This edition had double columns on the pages, one in English and the other strange words rendered in the latin alphabet and a script Ken did not recognize.

"Well now you can read it for yourself. Fair warning though, it is a bit of a gateway drug, you'll want to read more after this one."

"Thank you Ma'am, I'm sure I'll love it."

* * *

><p>Shinji and Misato were eating dinner in silence. He could feel her looking at him, but every time he looked up to meet her gaze, she looked away.<p>

"Hey Misato, is something wrong? You haven't had much food, I'm sorry if you don't like it.

"N-no Shinji, its wonderful, just… Shinji, I am so sorry."

"What for Misato?"

"For doing this to you."

"What do you mean?"

"This! All of this! I… After Shamshel, I made a suggestion that we find you and Rei a new teacher. I didn't want you to get hurt anymore and the way we were doing things just wasn't working. So I tried to think what would be the best kind of teacher and stupid me, I decided it should be an assassin."

"That doesn't sound stupid Misato, it makes sense. It worked out though, we kicked that last one's stupid blue ass."

"Yeah and that was fine, I mean I was happy, we all were… But Shinji, what happened at the school… that only happened because I brought Mr. Williams here."

Shinji shrugged and swallowed more food. Needed salt. "It all worked out. With Ken's help, nobody else got hurt. Well except the bad guys but that was the point really."

"Shinji, you killed people! Human beings! I saw the bodies, I read the reports. You crushed them, ripped them apart, I don't even know what you did to those ones on the stairs. I… Shinji when I picked you up from the train station, you remember right? I saw you were so sad, but underneath that was this gentle, wonderful soul. You could have been a great doctor, I know you don't think you're smart enough but you could have done it, you have so much compassion." Misato swallowed hard as tears began to well up in here eyes.

"And I took that away and I made you a killer. I took that wonderful, sweet, little boy and turned him into a soldier. Oh my god, I am so sorry Shinji, so sorry. I was supposed to be your guardian, I wanted to keep you safe and teach you the world wasn't a bad place, that it wasn't out to hurt you. Heaven forgive me, I am so sorry. Oh god, and your friend. I mean he isn't even involved in all this and he shot people!""

"Misato, that's not it at all." Shinji said, then got up to stand next to her, one hand on her shoulder. "You're right, when I got here I was sad, but I'm not anymore. I didn't like killing them but if I hadn't more people could have died. They were the ones who started it and tried taking a bunch of kids hostage to get to Remo-sensei, but that's not sensei's fault, its theirs. Anyway, I am happy now, my life is way better than before and it wouldn't have changed if you hadn't had that idea."

Misato looked up at him, tears still in bloodshot eyes.

"So… thank you Misato-san, for changing my life for the better. Thank you. Um, I know this is out of the blue, but there is something I want to ask you about…"

He asked.

Misato felt sick. He was thanking her for teaching him how to kill. He didn't even know what he had lost, it was like he didn't feel anything about what he had done and now he wanted that?! Misato felt her stomach turn and rushed past Shinji to the bathroom. She hadn't had a beer in months, ever since the night Rei told her off. She didn't care that it tasted horrible coming back up, she was emptying her just-in-case stash tonight.

Rei was sleeping. Well, kind of. It was a dream state that she reached by meditating. Lakshmi had visted her dreams the night after the attack and introduced her to her dream mentor. He knew Sinanju and was close with Remo-sensei, so Rei was pleased with him.

_Sensei, are you there?_

**Aaaaaaaah, so the jap bitch returns.**

He was a little rude though…

_Yes sensei, there is much I wish to learn._

**Oh yes, bow down and grovel while you plot to put a knife in my back. If you had told me anybody but my arrogant pig-ear of a student had decided to teach the most ancient art of Sinanju to not just a Japanese, but an ugly whore-spawned slut of a Japanese, I would never have you believed you.**

_You are angry sensei._

**You aren't worth my anger girl.**

_Anger is the result of fear. So tell me sensei, what do you have to fear from me?_

His laugh was like a squawking bird. Rei opened her eyes in the dream and found herself on an empty plain of dried mud. Sensei said this is what home looked like. Rei was sure what he had called home was under water now.

He stood before her in a silk robe colored black and white. Stood next to her, he barely came to her chin. A wisp of white hair stood where there had once been a beard and his fingernails looked like talons, long and black with wicked points.

"Oh you do have spirit though, this I like. You have potential, he saw it, but even a stupid white man can be right once in a while."

"As you say sensei."

"Aaaagh, to hear the greatest Master of sinanju called in such a filthy language. Do your people gargle pig swill to make your words sound so ugly? You know my name girl, use it."

Rei slammed her fist into her open palm and bowed before sliding into a fighting stance.

"Very well Master Chuin."

* * *

><p>"Thank you for meeting with me so late doctor."<p>

"Of course Commander, I understand a busy schedule."

"I would like to go over the status of the evangelions and the pilots. Lets start with the first child."

"Very well Commander. Since the pilots began training with Mr. Williams, the first child has gained approximately fifteen pounds and her body mass index is similar to what one might expect in a professional athelete. In other words she is in very good physical condition. Incidently, she has also grown about an inch, but that's normal for a child of her age. The first child does not appear to have suffered any psychological trauma as a result of the attack on the school. In fact, as has been the case since her treatment was ceased, her behavior has become increasingly well balanced and, for lack of a better word, normal. I am still very concerned about a possible return of her prior psychopathic behavior, but I will admit, she does seem to be doing better."

"I see. Could this be an indication of her true personality reasserting itself?"

"Commander I… no commander. No, her behavior and interests do not match up with that of Yui Ikari. I'm sorry Commander."

"I see…"

"Gendo, I…"

"Unit Zero, Dr. Akagi."

"Since the end of the battle with the fifth angel, evangelion unit zero has displayed no further anomalous behavior. Examination in the last few weeks shows, if anything, the unit's shortcomings as the prototype have been alleviated. Processing speed and synapse activity are on par with Unit One and the data we have been getting from Germany on Unit Two."

"I see, is it safe to use then?"

"While I would not go so far as to say it is safe, I do believe any risk is very slight. As long as the pilot behaves of course."

"I trust in Rei to do what is right. Moving on, the third child."

"Shinji, like the first child, has put on quite a bit of muscle mass and is in very good physical condition, even better than the first. Emotionally, it is like night and day from when he first arrived. He is confident if not a little socially awkward. He has few friends and spends most of his time with the first child."

"I see, and Unit One?"

"Well Sir, I would actually like to discuss Shinji and the first's relationship. You see we have observed some interesting-"

"Dr. Akagi, Evangelion Unit One, report."

"Yes Commander. Repairs and retrofits were completed three weeks after the attack. We won't have a systems failure like that in either of the active evangelions again, and the necessary design changes have been forwarded to NERV's other divisions, so it won't be a problem in future units either."

"Good. What is the status of Unit Two?"

"Germany was pleased to report the upgrade block designed with the combat data from Units Zero and One was completed and installed over a month ahead of schedule. They anticipate Unit Two will set sail by the end of June and arrive before July twentieth."

"Excellent, what of the second child?"

"As ever, Asuka is enthusiastic in her training and studies and very eager to join the fight here. Her latest synchro scores are lower than the other pilots, but having not seen combat yet, I am hesitant to judge those numbers side by side."

* * *

><p>"Um Misato, are you alright?"<p>

She could hear Shinji's voice through the bathroom door. She was still clutching the bowl of the toilet. What the hell had she done?

She sent him out to fight. She asked for better training. So they could win. And so he wouldn't get hurt as badly, but she was not going to kid herself that what she really wanted was for those kids to kill more of those things. Dammit though, she wasn't expecting him to like it.

She had seen child soldiers while on peacekeeping missions, as part of JSSDF units seconded to the UN. They were one of the most horrifying things in the world to her. And she had made one. Out of all the good intentions in the world, she had turned that sweet little boy into one of those monsters.

Misato vomited again. She didn't know what she was more disgusted with: What Shinji had become or herself?

She had, deep down, aspired to be a mother to him. What a load of bullshit, what kind of a mother could ever do this?

"Misato, I'm coming in."

She tried to reach out to keep the door closed but she hadn't the strength after crying and upchucking for the better part of a half hour. She didn't object when he gave her something to drink and a hair tie either. The drink was clear soda. Misato had had enough hangovers to know it was good for calming the stomach. Once you start, whatever the reason, its difficult to stop. She stayed hunched over the toilet, even as her back screamed at her. He sat down against the wall with one leg out and the other bent at the knee.

"I'm sorry Misato."

"N-no Shinji, don't be… its not your fault."

"I'd thought you would be happy, I mean its going down the same path you have. I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't Shinji… I'm mad at myself. I feel like I shorted you your childhood to make you fight the angels and all the adult problems of the world. Like I forced you to grow up too fast. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I get it."

Misato reached her hand across the floor and grabbed his.

"It's a hard life you know. I know you don't like school, and like you said you only have another year before you could be done anyway, but… if you get an order you don't like, you can't say no."

"When have I ever refused an order Misato?"

"you… you're right."

"I figure it would just be more training like we do now, maybe a little more in the evas. Not like there would be much point to doing boot camp at this point. You know I can outrun a car? Rei and I were racing to school and I didn't even realize how fast I was going until I saw the car go by…"

Misato squeezed his hand. "We can talk about it, okay? I think Rei should be there when we do."

"Yeah… Misato… I want you to know, before I met you, its not something I had ever thought about. But I saw how strong you really are and I... I mean I'm strong now, like my body is, but I still don't feel like I have the spirit to match, you know?"

Misato smiled and nodded. "I understand Shinji, I think I understand better now… I am sorry I forced you to be a soldier, but if that's what you really want to be then I am proud that I set a good example."

The next day, Shinji invited Rei over. He had lunch made by the time she arrived. Misato had taken the time off to be there with Shinji. They all sat at the kitchen table and, unusually for when company was over, Pen Pen made his presence known, sitting in the fourth chair and eating sardines from the can.

"Your nervousness would indicate you wish to discuss something of great importance Major. I would know that even if I couldn't read Shinji like a book."

"Am I that transparent wildflower?"

"Yes."

"Rei, Shinji has a very important decision to make and I thought, given your relationship, you should be here so we all talk about it together."

"I see. What would you like to discuss warrior?"

"That's actually it… Why are we part time fighters? Why are we wasting time in school when we have a planet to save? Rei, I think I can accomplish what we need to do better as a full time soldier. I want to enlist with NERV. Besides, they would finally have to pay me this way, stead of dumping me off when they don't need me."

"Hey nobody had dumped you off anywhere…"

"I agree."

"Wait, what?"

"I agree with Shinji's logic. I will enlist as well."

"WARK?!"

"Oh Jesus Christ…"

* * *

><p>Remo Williams did not agree.<p>

"What the fuck are you two morons thinking?"

Misato had gone with Shinji and Rei to speak to their teacher about the matter. She figured she could be emotional support. She hadn't even seen Remo's hands move when both pilots went crashing to the floor after telling him. She felt that at this time it was best to let them stand on their own before the wrath of Remo. She would give what support she could from a safe distance.

"We are not soldiers, we are assassins! A soldier is as much a weapon as the gun he carries. He fights who he is told to fight, regardless of his thoughts on the matter. And you know what his master does with him when he is finished? He disposes of him! Even if I would let you two willingly put yourself at the beck and call of that self important little twit commander Ikari… sorry Shinji."

"No offense taken sensei." Shinji said from the floor. He was not confident enough in the floor to stay where it was at to attempt sitting up yet. Best he could tell Rei was of a similar opinion.

"Anyway, even if I would let you, which I won't, you can't."

"Why not?" Rei asked and regretted it when Remo gave her the world's worst charliehorse using only his big toe. Oh yes, knowing who she did now, she could see the similarities.

"Because you are already members of the house of Sinanju. The commander signed you both over in the service contract when he hired us. I can't have trained students running around working for a third party. You are part of us and we have been hired as a group. I understand, however, your points about putting all of your effort into this mission though. I will speak with the Commander this evening."

* * *

><p>That evening…<p>

"I did no such thing." Gendo snarled out, his brow furled over his glasses, just above his steepled hands

"Commander, if memory serves, you signed the service agreement and the provision was clearly outlined."

The "service agreement", a ten meter parchment scroll rolled across two cylinders, sat on Gendo's desk. While he had signed it, he was not about to admit he had not in fact read the whole thing. He had had Kozo look at it and come to think of it what proof did he have the old man had read it? Or that his eyesight was any good, he was always squinting…

"Very well, then show me, Mr. Williams."

Outlined in black and white, in section three, sub-section two, post script roman numeral five, addendum B, beneath the provision for adequate bathroom facilities, read the following:

_In order to protect the knowledge and intellectual property of the most ancient and noble house of Sinanju, all students trained to standard outlined in_… Gendo didn't know there was such a thing as superscript on superscript before now… _are ceded to the most ancient and noble house of Sinanju and provision for their services are considered to be included in this contract, pursuant to section one, paragraph one._

"So you see Commander Ikari, the pilots are clearly subordinates under myself who you have hired. I am just looking for accommodations to be made in order to make them more effective. Really it is about getting the most service for your money."

Gendo Ikari thought on it. Then he thought some more. Remo was sure he could see the steam coming out from the scruffy bastard's ears. These spies were all the same. They get good at all that secret squirrel crap and suddenly they think they are geniuses.

"Very well Mr. Williams, I do believe we are not getting our full value from the agreement and would like to know what you could do to give NERV more. With no increase in compensation of course."

"Of course Commander."

What a maroon.

* * *

><p>"I like it. Never did like the dress anyway, I mean what kind of pedo has girls running around in school uniforms anyway? You know when they aren't wearing skin tight rubber."<p>

Viral was eyeing up the pilot's new clothes. Remo's little talk with the commander had yielded some official recognition for the pilots. Apparently the original plan had been to keep them as unofficial as possible to avoid any accusations of using child soldiers. The commander felt satisfied that if the pilots were not NERV personnel at all, but instead employees of an outside contractor, it cleared them of responsibility not just for their actions, but for their care and feeding. Because of the training clause in the contract though, this only applied to Shinji and Rei, not this new girl who was coming over from Germany or any other pilots they had stashed around the world.

It had been a fairly quick process thanks to the NERV budget and priority it could demand. The day after he had spoken with the commander, Misato had brought Remo a catalogue and the next day the uniforms had been delivered. Despite having the choice of any equipment across all the nations of the world, Remo had chosen a simple olive drab battle dress uniform, not too different from what he himself had worn in Vietnam. The pants were plain with big pockets and the blouse was relatively spartan, having only four pockets instead of the ten or more common on more modern uniforms. A plain green t-shirt went under the blouse. For shoes, the pilots had black 'tanker' boots with velcro straps instead of laces. The belt was green nylon with characteristic blackened ALICE grommets all around.

Remo had chosen this uniform for several reasons, some good, some bad, but mostly for two specific ones. First, it looked NOTHING like anything NERV wore. All of the NERV officer uniforms were either blue or tan, and their combat uniforms were black or dark blue. Second, Remo saw making the kids wear school uniforms for what it was: an effort to keep them children. They wanted to use these kids to fight their war without having to treat them like adults doing an adult job.

Remo had forgotten one small detail however. They spent a week teaching you how to wear a uniform in the Marine Corps for a reason.

"Haven't either of you worn a uniform before? Don't they have boy scouts or girl scouts or something here?"

Shinji shrugged, making the hanging jacket look even worse. He had put the duty belt on as a pants belt when it should have been over the blouse. Rei had made the same mistake and neither had bloused their pants.

"Okay, look, first of all, the green belt goes on the outside, like this…"

By the end of the week, Toji was back in town and Kensuke was out of the hospital. With no more school until August, the four friends decided to meet up in Tokyo-3's small entertainment district. It was a kind of outdoor mall with various arcades, a theater, food, etc. The wide boulevard was vehicle-free and filled with people. With the strange passing fashions of Japanese youth meant two children in military uniforms, one in athletic gear, and one in short sleeves and khaki's wearing an eye patch didn't really stand out.

"Dude, you guys look so awesome." Ken had been only slightly gushing over the pilot's new uniforms. He hadn't gotten any drool on them yet. Shinji and Rei had their cuffs tucked in and their belts on right now, and had their sleeves rolled above their elbows.

"Says the pirate." Toji quipped. Toji was wearing shorts and a jersey with his tennis shoes.

"Dude, I don't look like a pirate. I totally look like Big Boss." Ken was right in a way. Without glasses, he had brushed his hair straight back. So yeah, if Big Boss's voice hadn't cracked yet, he might have a point.

"Who?"

"Dude, the ultimate soldier of the twentieth century? Metal gear, outer heaven? Come on I know you played that game, I lent it to you."

"Metal gear?!" Toji said, recoiling in faux shock.

"Oh whatever man."

End

* * *

><p>Author notes:<p>

My comments on this chapter:

-For those unfamiliar with the Destroyer series, Chuin was Remo's teacher. He was a caustic, racist, horrible little man who could kill you with his little finger and laugh at you for not being Korean as you choked on your own uvula. He most likely would have done this because you interrupted his soap operas. I would hesitate to call him awesome, except I fear what would happen to me if I didn't. All hail to the greatest master of the most ancient and noble art.

-Ooooooo foreshadowing *spirit fingers* what is the deal with Ken and Toji?

-Next episode: Gaghiel, Asuka, and Ryoji Kaji, agent of BANNOUYAKU, and plenty of fanservice!

Unnecessary information, but stuff I would like to know at this point:

-Rei is about 5'0" at this point with Shinji maybe an inch shorter. I wrestled starting in middle school and I would describe their builds as the kind of boys and girls I saw in the lower (90-110 Lbs) weight classes. Not bulky with muscle but very very little fat. For comparison, Toji is a muscular 5'6" and Ken is just skinny at 4'11".

-Ken switched to a single contact lens in his remaining eye.

-I have no idea how Japanese karate competitions are actually structured. Toji had to compete in young adult groups after incidents in which he totally overmatched his own age group (and two more above him) due to his size, skill, and strength.

-ALICE was the method of attaching pouches and such that predated the current generation MOLLE system of stitched nylon straps. It made use of evenly spaced grommets on load bearing equipment with special hooks and straps on accessories to attach. Despite its age, still around and in use around the world. I am sure some of my military readers have "fond" memories of ALICE and/or MOLLE.


	20. Chapter 20

Warning: violence (warning: understatement). Naval terminology in sparse use.

Bulkhead: Watch any movie set on a modern ship or a sub. Those metal frames every few yards in the hallway is a bulkhead. Watch your head and don't trip.

Chapter 20

Somewhere over the pacific…

"I will never ever, in a million years, be able to pay you back for this, Major."

"Hey check your belts back there, got a little chop coming up." Came the pilots voice.

"Not sure you'll feel the same way by the time we land Mr. Aida." Misato said as she checked Shinji's harness.

"Oh I don't get airsick Major. Hey Toji, you need another bag over there? Sell ya one for a thousand yen."

Toji gave his friend the one finger response. Soy milk over cereal was just fine going down, but was a billion times worse than old fashioned cow's milk coming up.

Viral pulled a few more paper bags from behind his seat and shoved them into the bigger boy's hands. He wasn't getting vomited on.

Istanbul, some weeks before…

His name was Ryoji Kaji, and he was a man on the run.

The thugs, a trio of enforcers, has caught sight of him in the casino and given chase. Not a bad little bunch of track stars, they had kept up with the tuxedo'd spy through a dozen twists and turns and laughed as he skid to a halt when he realized the alley he had just ducked down had no exit.

Kaji turned to the three men, each at least a foot taller and a foot wider at the shoulders than himself.

"Now fellas, I'm sure we can reach an understanding here. This is about that card game, right? Look I know bad luck gets us all, I know I've walked out of enough joints dead broke. Tell ya what, lets split it, four ways, more than enough to go around, what do ya say?"

"I think we will take it from your corpse and split it three ways before we tell Mustafah you are dead, Mr. Kaji."

"Oh you know my name then?"

"Yes, and many other things." Said the one in the center, the apparent leader, as his comrades moved to Kaji's sides.

"Well see that changes things. You know my name, now you gotta die."

They laughed at that. The two lackey's kept laughing until Kaji slammed the leader's head face first into the wall. Kaji pulled the newly dead man back and threw the body to his friends, keeping the pistol the leader had had in a shoulder holster. Comrade number one didn't see the gun that killed him when Kaji fired twice into his skull. Two more shots took out comrade two's knee caps and a lightening fast kick threw the gun from his hand when he tried to draw it.

Kaji struck the last living one with the pistol, driving the back of his head against the brick wall with the muzzle of the weapon pressed against his left eye.

"Alright my friend, this is how it is going to work. I ask the questions, you answer the questions, and you go to the hospital instead of the morgue, understand?"

He understood. He was very helpful when Kaji asked about Mustafah's contacts with the Chinese ministry of state security. He was especially forthcoming about how Mustafah was smuggling a special package for the Chinese men tonight.

Kaji thanked him with a bullet.

He flew commercial back to Germany as Ryoji Lee, first class of course, after he paid Mr. Mustafa a visit. Lufthansa stewardesses were always so accommodating.

"Master Kaji, you're back!" Asuka squealed as she jumped into a hug when he returned to their apartment at NERV-2, formally known as Ramstein Air Base. He wrapped his arms around her and spun around to her joy before putting her down.

"Oh my favorite student in the whole wide world! Where you good while I was gone?"

She latched onto his arm and laughed. "Of course! And aren't I you're only student Master?"

"Even if I had a thousand, you'd still be my favorite Asuka."

They both laughed. It was stupid, it was corny, but they had been saying it for seven years now.

"So did ya bring me anything?"

Kaji smiled and pulled a black and gold casino chip from his pocket and flipped it like a coin. Asuka snatched it from the air.

"Should you ever find yourself in Istanbul, stop by the grand hotel, nice casino there."

Asuka giggled "Well if we go I can treat you to dinner."

"Anything exciting happen while I was gone, liebchen?"

"Nope." She said as she rubbed her cheek against his arm. "We had kind of a fun discussion in youth group and I got another ten pages done on my thesis. I'm just happy you're back."

Kaji reached over with his other hand and stroked her cheek. "I missed you too."

"Well of course I missed you Master, but I need to start getting things packed for the trip aaaaaand some of it is kinda heaaaaavy…"

Back in the VTOL

"Excuse me Major, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course Mr. Aida, what is it?"

"So I know we are friends with Shinji and all, and don't get me wrong I am super grateful to be here, but… why? And why do we get uniforms too?"

Toji and Ken were wearing the same olive drabs as Shinji, the shoulders of which now bore the NERV flash, a shield split diagonally red and black.

"Well I suppose there is no harm in telling you, not like you can back out now. You are decoys, just in case anybody gets any ideas about taking out Shinji. I'm sorry if you feel betrayed."

Toji, still green, laughed when she apologized.

"He protects all of us, to protect him is a privilege. Hear that Ken, we're bodyguards?"

Kensuke shook his head. "All that griping about Samurai and when you finally get your chance you spend it face in a barf bag."

Shinji had actually been feeling closer to Toji the whole flight. He had only kept it under control by meditating. Nobody had tried talking to him, so he figured they thought him asleep.

"Just passed fifty click perimeter, prepare for landing."

Major Katsuragi pulled down a radio headset. "This is Major Misato Katsuragi, NERV tactical command. What is the location of the second child… and where are services being held Petty Officer, I'm a ground pounder?… thank you." Misato hung the headset back on the hook above them.

"Oh you boys are in for a treat…"

Within a few minutes, they had landed on the super carrier _Over The Rainbow_, formally the Harry S. Truman as the midshipman who was escorting them below deck explained. It was Sunday and they were going to the forecastle. Ken explained to Shinji and Toji that it wasn't a castle at all, but where the anchors were hauled up. Aside from the hanger deck, it was the largest single room on the ship.

As they wound through identical grey corridors, they began to hear the echo of the service below through open bulkheads.

_Amazing grace, How sweet the sound_

_That saved a wretch like me…_

Shinji could tell it was a single voice singing, though he didn't understand the words. There were no instruments and had he remembered a bit more of his music education, he might have described the voice as a soprano.

_I once was lost, but now am found_

_Was blind but now I see…_

They came out onto one of the catwalks that overlooked the forecastle. They could not see the singer until several sailors moved for Misato. Shinji saw a young girl, she looked his age, at the head of the room on a little stage. She was white with light red hair, almost blond, with a red ribbons holding it back. She was wearing a long yellow dress with a blue knit cardigan and her hands were clasped together in front of her.

_Twas grace that taught my heart to fear_

_And grace my fears relieved…_

"Ken..." Shinji said and was immediately shushed by the crowd around him.

"What?" Ken whispered back in Japanese.

"What is she singing about?"

_How precious did that grace appear_

_The hour I first believed…_

"It's a song about going astray and find your way back to god, its Christian."

_Through many dangers, toils, and snares_

_I have already come…_

"Its about no matter how far you have gone, how low you have sunk, no matter what you've done, its never too late to get back on the right path."

_Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far_

_And grace will lead me home._

The men and women who filled the cavernous room were veterans of the impact wars. The conflicts that followed second impact, and continued to this day, left more dead than yet lived today. These people knew what it was to have left the path of righteousness. In the deepest parts of their souls, they held onto the belief that what they had done could be forgiven. They had fought and killed, and many died, not for an idea, not for god, not for country. They had fought for the survival of themselves and the people back home. That their families might have resources and live through the next winter, that they would have food and not starve, that they might have clean water. Many had joined their service to make the world a better place. Instead they had taken from it for the comfort of themselves and those they loved. Kensuke had found faith so recently, but he understood the soldiers, marines, and sailors around him and how dear their wish was.

Shinji did not understand the words, but he could see in her face and hear in her voice an overpowering conviction. It wasn't just a song to her. He could hear and see that she had seen the dark and was telling her god, personally and directly, that she was trying to do better.

He thought then for a moment about himself. He hated so many people; he thought forgiveness impossible for what they had done to him. If they apologized, if they promised to do better, could he forgive them? He wasn't sure.

As her words filled the room, Shinji considered himself as Shiva, looking down upon the Earth. If this girl spoke to him this way, what would he say? Would he condemn her to whatever hell she had earned, or would he give her another chance? It would depend on what she had done he supposed, but then where to draw the line? What was beyond foregivness and for what could it yet still be sought? And if the chance was given, then what was necessary to earn it? He wanted to discuss it with Rei when they were again together. If Shiva could forgive, then why couldn't Shinji Ikari?

Shinji looked to Misato and was surprised to find her with her hands clutched together and eyes tightly shut, mouthing the words. He knew Misato, he understood why she felt guilty about him. He had never held it against her, he would forgive her anything. He loved her, he realized in that moment, as one loves family. He couldn't imagine holding anything against her if she truly wanted to do better, no matter how bad she got.

That was it, he decided as the girl's voice faded over the final words and applause filled the room. He had never understood the message of the Christian god before. He had thought what was the worth of something given freely to everyone, surely it had no value. He got it now though, what people saw in it. Their god loved each of them the same way he loved Misato. He cared for them and would forgive them anything, so long as they tried to be better, because he loved them.

As Shinji followed Misato down the steep stairs and saw her and the girl run to embrace each other, tears in their eyes, he felt a sudden sadness, emptiness. The mass of people surrounding him all believed in this beautiful idea, that they could all find forgiveness in the arms of a loving god. Shinji was a god, one who reduced himself to take on human form. Who would love him no matter what?

"Oh god Misato, its so good to see you! I missed you so much." The girl said in English.

Misato squeezed Asuka to her breast. She had forgotten faith in all the work and excitement these past few months. The guilt she had felt had been crushing until she heard Asuka's voice again. It had reminded her that forgiveness was always there, it always within her reach, she need only try for it.

"I missed you too Asuka."

"Oh here, I should return this." Asuka said and reached behind her neck. Shinji noticed the simple cross pendant she wore. It was plain metal, it looked like just steel, and had four short arms. She took it off and pressed it into Misato's hands.

"Oh Asuka, you don't have to…"

Asuka shook her head and pressed harder. "I needed it back then, but… I dunno what it is, but I can feel you need it now."

Misato put the necklace on and slid the pendant beneath her collar.

"Alright, Asuka Langely Soryu, meet Shinji Ikari!"

Shinji was not prepared for the hug. Well he supposed it was meant to be a hug. The girl was taller than him and nearly took him to the deck.

"Um, nice to meet you?"

When she let go of him she stepped back and bowed.

"Forgive my manners, it is very nice to meet you Ikari-san" She said, now in Japanese. She spoke without an accent, but in that way newsreaders often do. It was not that she spoke like a native, it was more like the words lacked a personality.

"I saw the tapes of your fights with the angels, you and Ayanami-san were amazing. I look forward to working with you." She said and held out her hand. He took it and they shook and further introductions were made. First Toji, then Kensuke, at who's eyepatch she stared.

"Wonderin' about the eye?" He asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry to stare!"

"Its alright, been getting it a lot lately. Was rough, but this guy dragged me out of there." Ken said and slapped Shinji on the back.

"Out of what?"

"You know, the attack? Buncha Russians with-" Ken began then stopped when Misato grabbed him by the shoulder and put a finger to her lips.

"Oh, um, sorry Major."

"Asuka, there was an incident at the same time as the Jet Alone test, we have tried to keep it low key. Fortunately, Mr. Aida's eye was the only friendly casualty."

"Oh um, okay, you'll have to tell me all about it later."

The final introduction was Viral, who kept his hands crossed across his chest and did not bow or take her hand.

"Um, Mr. Viral, or is it Viral-san, um…"

"Master, Sensei, whichever you prefer. Who taught you to breathe?"

"I already have a master, Viral-sensei, and he taught me to breathe correctly."

"Whats his name?"

Asuka put her hands on her hips and threw her head back to look into Viral's eyes, chest to chest with him. "My master is the great Ryoji Kaji."

Viral smirked and chuckled.

"Skinny guy, bout my height, never learned to shave right, sound like the guy? He still have that stupid pony tail?

"Yes." Misato and Asuka responded in unison, both annoyed. Asuka was bothered by how disrespectful he sounded. Misato was annoyed his name was even mentioned.

"Well, looks like I got a whole lot of stuff to unteach ya before we get home girl. Don't worry though, we'll make you a daughter of Sinanju yet."

Asuka had a rather good retort lined up when Misato got between her and the rude man.

"Oookay, Asuka why don't you go show the boys your eva. Viral, a word…"

She was interrupted by the woop of a siren and the voice of the loudspeaker filling the ship.

GENERAL QUARTERS GENERAL QUARTERS

BLUE PATTERN DETECTED ANGEL INBOUND ANGEL INBOUND

EVANGELION PILOTS REPORT TO FLIGHT DECK FOR TRANSPORT

ALL OTHER NERV PERSONNEL REPORT TO BRIDGE

Asuka grabbed Shinji by the wrist and started running for the stairs. Misato hurried the boys along with her and Viral followed behind to make sure they didn't stray.

Shinji didn't mind being led, he figured the girl knew where she was going. They were soon on the flight deck. The sailors got them into a helicopter quickly and they were on the deck of another ship less than a minute later. Shinji found himself being drug along again.

"You know I can just follow you right?!" It was awkward getting dragged down the steep stir ladder things.

"No time for mistakes! I have an extra plug suit, it may fit weird but it should work."

"No need!" Shinji said as they came into the vast cargo area of the ship. Asuka turned when he stopped and found Shinji pulling a canister a little bigger than a can of tennis balls from a pouch across the back of his belt.

"New standard issue, plug suit in a can. We're supposed to carry them around with us now."

"Nice! I have to carry mine in a duffle."

Said bag was pulled from a container on the catwalk overlooking the prone evangelion, which was covered in brown tarps.

"You better not peek at me!"

"Really? That's what you care about right now!?" Shinji said then yanked the tab near the lid of the canister. The top popped off with a hiss and landed somewhere down the catwalk going by the metal on metal rattle, Shinji didn't look. He was already stripping off his uniform.

"What you aren't going to change right here are you?"

"There is a giant monster that needs killing, I'm not going to waste time to cover my ass!" Just to prove it, he pulled his pants down, shorts and all. Asuka's reaction was so good Shinji considered going to for his NERV phone to take a picture. Looking down at his clothes, the naked boy barely ducked the swing from Asuka.

"You idiot! An angel is attacking and you're the one fooling around and making fun of me for trying to preserve a little modesty!"

Shinji shot through the gap of the roundhouse kick that followed, pivoting on the balls of his feet to end up facing Asuka's back. Still, of course, naked as the day he was born.

"Oh thanks for turning around ma'am, now I can get dressed without worrying about you peeking."

See gaijin bitch, you people don't have the corner on smart ass, he thought

* * *

><p>Getting the eva to turn on was another fight.<p>

"Dammit, think in German!"

"Oh I am sorry, I don't know your language, maybe if you say it slowly and loudly enough I might understand!"

Asuka growled again "Switching language to Japanese."

"Misato said you have some new batteries installed in this thing, how much life can you get out of them?"

"Its about a two hundred percent increase, so maybe fifteen minutes."

"We are getting better than that with partial f-type equipment, what the hell?"

"Crusader's set wasn't finished yet, okay! We have to get back to the Over The Rainbow, they have the power hook-up."

"Crusader?"

"Yeah, that's his name, don't make fun of it. Alright, ready for final start up and go."

Shinji felt the soft buzz across his A-10 clips as the connection was made. He _felt_ Asuka's presence, but it felt small. Like he was there and thinking and doing and she was a dog or something, not equal in stature or understanding.

Shinji heard her mutter and looked behind him. Her being taller, he had ended up on her lap. She had her hands together with her eyes closed and was mouthing words. It took him a second to realize she was praying.

"Oh father who art in heaven, as we go into battle against your fallen angels, give us the strength to make right that which has gone wrong in the world…"

Shinji grabbed the control yokes and grinned. Whatever she was saying, he had his own little prayer. The words didn't matter, it was more a cadence thing that made his body react and he didn't have to worry about anybody else hearing it.

As the cargo bay doors parted, Shinji willed the eva to stand and as he felt his head rise into the sky, he began to speak.

"I am created, Shiva, the destroyer, the earth shatterer, the transformer. The god-warrior made whole by the master of Sinanju!.."

The tarps fell to the deck and into the water as Unit-02, Crusader, rose to its full height. Armored in crimson and gold, its four emerald eyes flashed in the sunlight. Shinji could feel the systems as if they were his own body and flexed the forearms, sliding long progressive blades out from the wrists then back under the "skin". With a groan the evangelion turned to the West, where it felt the enemy approaching. He could feel another set in the legs but even as he entered his elevated state he knew poking holes in the boat was a poor idea.

"Shinji, we need to get to the carrier."

"These people, these ships, they are under my protection! WHO IS THIS DOGMEAT THAT CHALLENGES ME?"

Misato's voice came over the radio. "Unit 02, report to over the rainbow, we have a bridge of ships coordinated, you should be able to…"

**_NO._**

So the destroyer spoke and the cockpit went red with warnings as all communication systems shut down.

"Sh-shinji?"

Crusader raised one foot from the bull bottom of the cargo hull and placed it on the lip of the ship's side, causing it to list slightly. Shinji could feel how the angel was moving in the water, he could feel the thrum as its AT field moved like a giant screw, pulling the water around it and pushing it out behind. The thing was the size of the ship on which the eva stood but was moving like a bullet.

All could see the great bow wave approaching now. It was as tall as some of the ships' radio masts. Within it the great white beast was visible, all teeth and glowing red eyes. And behind it, indistinct in their multitude were a million points of light. Gaghiel was coming and it was heading straight for the evangelion.

The wave broke over the outlying ships, capsizing them, as the great beast breached. It left the water, its great mouth filled with rows of gigantic teeth spread wide. Behind it, flooding onto the decks of every ship, were legion miniatures and variations, snapping their jaws and whipping bladed fins.

The giant flew through the air towards the crimson eva and made to bring its leviathan jaws down on it. Orange light stopped its fight and shattered teeth. As the beast fell back to the water, Crusader leapt from the ship as it rolled under the resulting wave and onto the beast. It drove one long blade from its arm into the flesh to anchor itself. Shinji brought Crusader's fist down on the stone mask that rode the top of the beast and shattered it, but found only bloody flesh beneath.

Gaghiel thrashed and threw the red eva into the water then dived, purple blood trailing in the water behind it.

* * *

><p>Back on the Over The Rainbow, things were going about as well.<p>

Misato was down to twelve rounds left for her USP, a round short of a full mag. NERV issue was .40S&W but on a UN boat it was 9mm NATO all around. The fish things were unending. Every conceivable size and shape, all of them with big nasty teeth or beaks or what the fuck ever, crawling, slithering, some even walking down the corridor.

Viral had gone off to clear a hallway and never came back. He was either dead or just decided to clear all one thousand feet of it.

Three more lurched through the bulkhead and Misato put them down clean. At least it was pretty clear where the head was on most of them. One round each, have to save ammo. When one got back up she put two rounds into center mass and it slumped over, convulsing and spewing purple blood over the walls before it finally stopped moving.

After minutes of silence, Misato stood from her cover behind a bulkhead. With her weapon still pointed downrange, she checker her magazine. It was a habit she had gotten into after realizing that you really do lose count sometimes. Seven rounds left. She had been on the bridge when the first wave hit the deck. She had forty rounds on her today, thirty-nine in three magazine and one in the chamber. There were definitely more than thirty-three of those things and more waves had come.

She knew it was big when she heard the scraping on the deck approaching. Locking the magazine back in, she pointed in and waited for whatever it was to come around the corner. When the trunk of blue flesh wrapped around the bulkhead she waited. Its just a limb, wait for the body. Eight more feet of muscle followed before the shell came into few.

It was a really big clam. Misato nearly laughed when its shell butted up against the bulkhead on all sides. It was way too big to ever get through. At least it blocked anything else from coming down.

Major Katsuragi did not consider that it must have passed several bulkheads to get to this point. When the foot found purchase around a door frame and began to pull, she was shocked to see the bulkhead begin to bend and split. As the shell began flex open and shut little by little, it looked like it was just eating the metal.

Misato brought her weapon back up and fired two shots at the gap between the shell plates. One round ricocheted off the shell and if the other hit anything, the beast didn't slow down. Instead, it started to probe the corridor with the huge foot. Misato fired twice more. The trunk of flesh was getting too close, she was losing her cool. Both round bounced off the shell.

One round left. Fuck.

She briefly considered ending it there but pushed the thought from her mind. There was always a way to fight on. As the clam tore through the bulkhead and started to pull itself closer though, hari-kari by gunfire did begin to become a more attractive option.

"Heya Major. If you wouldn't mind moving to the side Ma'am." It was Kensuke. He must have gotten into the marine detachments armory. The other boy, Toji, was right behind him. Misato pressed her back against the wall and they both walked right by. Both were carrying rifles and extra magazines.

"Boys, what the hell are you doing, get back here!"

"Don't worry Misato, we caught one of these things a while ago, we got this." Toji said as he gingerly stepped over the big blue clam's foot.

"Dude, she's an officer, you gotta call her Major." Kensuke said as he slung the rifle over his shoulder and took a grenade from a pouch. They were about a yard in front of the slowly advancing clamzilla.

"Whatever man."

"Not whatever, she is a professional woman who has earned her rank in a male dominated field, show some damn respect. Okay, you want to shoot or dump?"

"I don't care."

"Fine I'll shoot and you dump." Kensuke tossed the grenade over the tongue-like foot and Toji caught it. "Besides, I already lost an eye, you should risk your hand anyway."

"Oh by the gods you are going to be going on about that till you have grand kids. Oh let me tell you the story of when Grandpa lost his eye fightin' the Russians."

Misato was aghast. They were bickering. They were handling live grenades and guns and they were bickering. And they were fourteen years old. She was not sure which part was worst.

"Hey Major, you probably want to get in cover, this got a little messy whereabouts you are standing last time." Ken yelled back down the hall.

"Wait, what are you going to do?"

"Well see we figured out last time this big dumb bastard can't hear or see anything, its all touch and only on the foot. It is called a foot in mollusks." Ken slapped the side of the hard shell with no result just to prove his point. "I'd call that a size fluffy, maybe even a damn. Its easier to show then explain though, so please Ma'am, get in cover."

Misato did and Kensuke raised his rifle while pulled the grenade's pin and held it over the foot, right in front of the edge of the shell. Toji held out his other hand and counted down with his fingers: Three… Two…One.

Ken fired a three round burst into the foot and Toji shoved the grenade through the gap in the shell and pulled his hand away just in time as the foot withdrew and the shell snapped shut. With the shell shut, there was just enough room for the boys to slip by behind the clam.

Five seconds later, the shell slammed back open, denting the steel walls of the corridor. The sound was like thunder echoing in the corridor and purple guts painted the wall fifty yards down the hall. When Misato stepped out of cover she could barely hear, but she could tell by the boys lips they were still going back and forth.

They were pushing the shell shut again before walking back towards the major. She only then noticed their boots and pants were coated with purple gore up to the knees. Her hearing was coming back.

"Okay its agreed, we call that move the terminal shuck. Hey Major y'alright?" Ken asked. Toji held out his hand and helped her up.

"Figured ya might be running low so I grabbed these for ya. " Ken said and held out an M9 pistol in one hand and several extra magazines in the other. "No forty to be found. They are starting to make some good headway on the hanger deck, what say we head down and help out? I mean, you know, if you want, you're the officer. Dad and I were building a model of one of these babies so you tell me where you want to go and I will get you there."

* * *

><p>Back in the water, Shinji could feel the beast circling. Crusader was slowly sinking.<p>

"Crud crud crud, we don't have any way to maneuver in the water without a tether. The b-type equipment isn't buoyant either, we can't swim."

Asuka's prattling was not helping either.

**_Be silent._**

"This is your fault! Thanks to you we are going to either get eaten or sink deep enough to be crushed by the pressure. Idiot!"

**_I SAID BE SILENT!_**

"How are you even talking like that?"

**_I do not care to share, now be quiet and think about a drill._**

"A…drill?"

**_A screw, a drill, an augur, whatever you wish to call it. That is how the beast is moving so quickly. It has formed the light of its soul into a drill to move the water around it. I aim to do the same._**

"Oh! Yeah, okay um drill drill…drill…drill… Think drilly thoughts"

She was still speaking, even the sound of her voice was annoying at this point, but at least the thought noise that had been making it hard to concentrate was gone. He knew how it felt to bend and shape the field after Ramiel, it was this turning bit that was giving him trouble.

Shinji concentrated on the first thing he felt whenever he entered his peak state: The blood moving within his own body. The AT field had to act like a pump, to move the water, just like his heart. Shinji closed his eyes and concentrated on his heart beat. In and out, push and pull, gather and release with more energy. Draw the energy back in, make a cycle. The cycle builds, the energy increases. One drop of water thrown out with enough energy can move a giant.

And the eva lurched in the water. Not very far, not very fast, but he had done it.

**_Think about ending the living mistake which we hunt… and drills, don't stop thinking about that, its working._**

The eva began to move in stuttering lunges at first, then long, powerful strokes, before he finally got it under control and could move in smooth constant motion, slow as it was. As Shinji felt the beast turn towards them, he knew it was time to try it for real.

**_You pray to a god you cannot see. Watch now as one in your very presence brings salvation to his people._**

Sailors not fighting the fish spawn could see the orange glow from the surface before a bow wave sent the entire fleet out of formation.

Crusader tore past the angel and in the space where their fields touched, thrust one of its long knives into the beast's mouth. As they shot past each other, the angel was left with a long gash from the corner of its mouth back to its tail. Shinji made a sharp turn around and screamed past the angel again, this time cutting it low across the belly. More sharp turns and more cuts sent the massive shark swimming for the surface.

**_Yes, that's right. Rise, rise!_**

Crusader dove down, far enough that Asuka began to panic as the groans of armor collapsing reached the entry plug. The red and gold eva then went straight up, passing the angel and leaving it with one last cut, gored from tail to jaw.

The entire fleet moved again as the evangelion broke the surface and shot into the air. A mile, two miles into the air, and the evangelion whipped its body around to face the blue sea.

**_Thou art an enemy of the rightness of the universe!_**

Crusader drew back one fist and the orange light of the AT field glittered about it.

**_You pervert the dharma by your very presence!_**

There was a bang and clouds all around parted. The eva did not fall towards the water. Falling is act of nature as gravity takes hold. Crusader flew straight towards the water as the fastest thing ever launched from a naval vessel. The hypersonic impact with the water's surface met the nose of Gaghiel a millionth of a second before it breached the surface.

Shinji had figured the angel was hiding the core somewhere within itself. Why bother looking when you can just destroy the whole thing?

As Crusader traveled through the angel's body, Shinji expanded the same AT field that had kept the eva from shattering on impact with the water. It tore through the angel's body and simply _erased_ the core as it turned the angel's body into bloody shreds.

Successive waves set the entire fleet, even the massive carrier _Over The Rainbow_, adrift, pitching and rolling as their crews continued to fight their own enemy.

* * *

><p>The hanger deck had been a disaster. The first wave of creatures had been little more than bigger, air breathing sea creatures. What followed them, crawling up the hulls of even the largest ships, walked like men. Their heads were like anglerfish, and they had razor sharp claws the size of a man's arm. The sailors and marines had been pressed back to the very end of the hanger deck, right behind the forecastle and the prow of the ship.<p>

Even with the marine detachment's weapons and the officer's handguns, there were not enough guns or bullets to go around. Sailors held wrenches and pipes as blunt instruments and some enterprising individuals had used duct tape to put knives on the ends of whatever poles they could find to make spears.

When the double shockwave hit as the evangelion finished the angel, there was a pause in the combat. Man and fishman retreated back to their fellows and lines of battle were formed with barely ten strides separating them. The sound of claws on deckplate mixed with the clicks and metal sliding on metal as weapons were reloaded and readied.

Toji and Ken were standing in front of Misato. Both had rifles pointing forward, and Ken had a knife gripped in two fingers on his left hand while the other three held the weapon's handguard.

"Major…" Toji said, not taking his eyes from the sights of his weapon. He spoke english. It had become reflex as they fought with the mostly American men and women around them.

"Yes Mr. Suzahara?"

"If for some reason you get out of this, and I don't know, I want you to tell Shinji something for me…" Toji started and was cut off by an elbow to the ribs from Kensuke.

"Don't start that bullshit, we are living through this."

A sailor turned around to face the boys. "What the fuck are you little shits talking about? This isn't some fucking movie, this isn't a last stand. That's it, I'm done."

The sailor threw his weapon, a machine wrench, to the ground. He pushed past his comrades and threw his hands in the air.

"I surrender, and so does everyone who isn't a goddamn idiot behind me! Don't kill us, we-"

The lone sailor didn't even get to finish. The front of his face was gone. As his body slumped to the floor, Major Misato Katsuragi stepped forward, flanked by Kensuke and Toji. She still held the pistol out straight and the last bit of smoke left the barrel as she stepped over the dead sailor.

"If you can understand me, listen well. Any who fight with the angels, be they man, beast, or something else, are enemies of NERV. NERV does not surrender. NERV does not give up. NERV does not tolerate cowardice. WE are the artifice of man built to fight a cruel universe. WE are the undefeated army! WE are the champions of mankind!"

With that Toji unslung his rifle and passed it to the line of battle behind them. The fishman had stepped back. Just a step. It spoke a loud message though. They were afraid.

Both boys stepped forward and Kensuke turned to Misato. "Well said Major, please step back."

As she looked into his one blue eye, Misato thought about just how insane this was. What was even more insane to her was that she simply nodded and stepped back behind the line.

Seeing Asuka again had reminded her that redemption was never far away. All one had to do was reach for it. The child soldiers around her, and she had realized that Suzahara and Aida were just that, were the products of manipulations by uncaring adults for their own reasons. She included herself in that group, people who had taken their childhoods to turn them into weapons. She saw what her redemption would be now. She would lead them and make sure that they were not wasted. She would help them fight on, to survive, so that one day they could stop fighting and when that day came she would be there to help them find what they had lost. She was going to hell, she accepted that, but nobody will be able to say she didn't try.

One of the fishmen stepped forward and swung its claws at Toji. Toji caught it at the wrist with one hand and snapped its forearm in two with the other. Another punch to the side of the head crushed its skull and the slimy body slid to the floor. Ken took another who dared step out, using his rifle as a lever under its arm to pull it down then slicing its neck to the bone with his knife.

"I don't think they brought their best man."

"Naw I think you are right Ken. No weapons, no uniforms. Probably just every poor schmuck they could pull off a farm, or out of his house, you know?"

"Yeah, like they are each an individual, probably just want to make it back to their families. Potters, sculptors, smiths, you know that sort of thing."

"Yeah, I know exactly… Hey you know who we brought?"

Kensuke moved behind Toji and turned to the line of sailors and marines.

"OY! Men and women of the Over The Rainbow! WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION?"

The resounding cries of "WAR WAR WAR" and the pounding of weapons on deck made Ken happy. He had hoped they had seen that one. He turned back to see the fishman stepping back into an even tighter group.

They had relied on psychological warfare, the shock of the surprise attack and their huge unit outside to make up for poor fighters and no equipment. Amateurs. The human race had been fighting everything in existence, including itself, for at least five hundred millennia now. To bring anything less than your A-game was just insulting.

Guttural screams that echoed through the hanger deck from the opposite end of the ship was a universal signal and the line charged forward. Toji and Ken were at the tip of the thrust. Ken soon discarded the rifle and was pitting his blade against claws and teeth.

Toji snapped bones and crushed organs with every strike. In that moment he felt more alive then he had in years. He had risen as a young star in the world of karate in its native land but no matter how big the trophy, he always felt unsatisfied at the end of the day. Winning a bout was like stroking one off and stopping cause you got distracted right at the end. Holding back to just put the other guy down ruined it. Winning by points was even worse. This felt good though. This was right. This worked. It clarified everything, it made his vision and his mind clear.

As Toji grabbed two fishmen by the necks and slammed them down to the deck to snap them, he had an epiphany. Shinji had told them about what it felt like to come to peak, for his body to enter a kind of super state, where everything just WAS. No confusion, no dilemma, just everything as it should be. This, Toji was sure, was what he meant. This is what Kensuke had meant when he said fighting, even losing his eye, had felt right because he did it well.

Toji threw back his head and screamed a war cry before grabbing another clawed arm and ripping it from the socket.

* * *

><p>At the opposite end of the cavernous hanger deck, there was a competition in progress.<p>

"That's seventy eight you damn fraud!" Viral said as a floating knife hand strike tore a fishman's torso, head, and one arm from the rest of it.

"Viral, Viral, you gotta get with it, I got one oh seven and one oh eight right here!" Replied Ryoji Kaji, tossing two dead fishmen aside, their heads gone and replaced by bloody purple stumps. His dark slacks and blue dress shirt were caked in purple gore. The tie was a complete loss.

"Ha, lying as usual! Did you convince them five was eight while you were at it!" Viral snapped back and took another with a roundhouse kick. They were running away from the pair now, towards the crowd on the other end. Good, thought Viral. The major and them could be the anvil, they'd be the hammer.

They met in the middle half an hour later. Hands were shook and without any reservation, hardened warriors, and there was no other kind among those aboard after that day, embraced with tears in their eyes. Two fourteen-year-old boys were raised on the shoulders of veterans as their own.

With the last of its power, the evangelion called Crusader had hauled itself aboard the very cargo ship it had launches from. The ship listed to one side with the giant's legs still beneath the waves. Within, a very scared young woman looked into the glowing eyes of what she claimed to fear and love in equal measure.

It is written with each appearance of angels, before they introduce themselves or state their purpose, they always give the same warning as they show mortals but a fraction of the divine presence which they represent. Each time they say "Fear Not" and they do so with good reason.

End

* * *

><p>Author notes: Woohoo, back to the fun stuff.<p>

I am fully aware marine detachments aboard navy ships are a rarity these days. Due to the prevalence of symmetric warfare following impact, I am making the jump that they made a comeback.

Regarding the summary of the message of Christianity:

-I AM NOT A CHRISTIAN. If I significantly screwed up, let me know and I will try and fix it. I am trying to give your religion the same respect I am giving Hinduism in this story.

-Some well read readers might recognize Shinji's initial thoughts on the value of the Christian god's love. Hails to you.


	21. Chapter 21

Notes:

This chapter contains some heavy discussion of beliefs and points of view. A character I think most readers like at this point argues one side, and the other by a character I am basically writing to be disliked. I am not endorsing one view or another by giving those views to either character, those are just the views of the characters and they are more reflective of their life events than an inherent

That said, Shinji is a bit of a jerk and Asuka is really no better in this chapter. Re gets her own bitchy moment.

Warning: like, heavy stuff man. But its just like, the character's opinions, so don't freak out…man.

Chapter 21

The inside of the entry plug was dark, lit only by dim red emergency lights. They were stuck for now and would need to wait for extraction. Asuka Langely Soryu sat in the pilots throne. Before her, buoyant in the pressure of the plug, was a boy who called himself a god. It had been silent for a while now and Asuka was becoming uncomfortable.

Shinji floated in the LCL with his legs cross and his hands on his knees. His eyes were closed and he was putting extraordinary effort into trying to relax. In previous battles he had passed out or lost concentration soon afterwards. Either way his body left the peak state, or shiva state as he thought of it, soon after. Today was proving different and he was trying everything he could think of to get the accelerated state to go away.

He was not in pain or uncomfortable or anything like that. It was just so incredibly boring to do nothing when your perception is fast enough to watch a bullet fly or a fly's wings beat. Shinji also knew he tended to be really hungry afterwards and was worried about what would happen if he held it for a long time. Mostly though, he was bored.

"So… that was pretty intense, huh?"

She was speaking again. Shinji was initially annoyed but decided that any stimulation was better than nothing. It could even make help him to forget his body and calm down. He opened his eyes and looked at the white girl a yard away from him, sitting in the pilot's chair.

"Yes."

"Is it always like that?" She asked, leaning forward in her seat.

"This was different."

"How so?"

"With the first, I barely knew what I was doing."

"I know what you mean, its easy to forget training under pressure."

"No, you clearly do not know what I mean. I had received no training at that point, nor any instruction on how to fight the angel."

"No way, that's impossible, I watched the tape of that battle. I mean you had a start up problem but once the eva was active you did great!"

"The problem was not with the evangelion. I was a fool and thought I was to go through life without hurting others. A friend spoke to me and explained to me that I must fight the battle, as my brother once explained to his dearest friend. It was then that I began to fight."

"Oh… um, I didn't know commander Ikari has other children, besides you know Rei but that's different."

"He does not."

"But you said your brother..."

"Do you know the story of Arjuna?"

"Uuuuh no. Is that in the Old Testament? I mean I will admit I'm not super good with some of the prophets and…"

Oh for fuck's sake she was going to start rambling again.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, you know, the old testament? The bible?"

"The Christian holy book?"

"Yeah."

"This story was ancient when Jerusalem was mud huts and a garbage dump." He snapped and snickered when she gasped. He didn't know when the bible was written, but he did know, in the he-was-there-but-not-him sort of way when Krishna spoke to Arjuna and it was a reaaaaaaaally long time ago. He had not met many white people in his life before now, but digging at this girl was fun.

"Arjuna was a warrior who ended up having to fight another branch of his own family. He did not want to kill his own kin and wished to quit the battle. His best friend, whose name was Krishna but was really my brother Vishnu in human form, told him why he had to fight, starting with the purpose of the universe and the gods and bringing it all the way back down to Arjuna in that very moment. My friend, Vasuki, spoke to me in the evangelion that day and gave me the first reminder of who I really am. That was when I began to fight."

There was silence in the plug for a moment. Asuka moved as if she meant to speak several times but stopped. After several minutes, or what felt like it as there was no perception of time in the plug, she spoke.

"What… the… fuck… are you talking about?"

Shinji cocked his head, brow furrowed.

"I know who Vishnu is, he was one of the Indian gods. Had an elephant head or something. Do you actually think you are the brother of a god? So what, divine father human mother, think you are Heracles or something? Who do you think you are?"

"Didn't you hear me before the battle began."

"Yeah, I prayed and so did you."

"You prayed, I introduced myself to the angel. I am Shiva, the destroyer, and I have taken human form to destroy the angels and save this planet."

Her laughter was annoying.

"Oooooookay, I get it now. You're like one of those adrenaline junkies right? Like, you get all high when you are in danger or something like that and you feel like you are king of the world afterwards. So is Shiva your call sign then? In the air force my callsign was crusader, so you know I passed it along to my eva here." She said and patted the wall of the plug.

Playing back his own words in his head, Shinji realized what he said could have sounded incredulous. He considered what display might convince her of his truthfulness then came to the conclusion he did not care. Belief or lack of belief in his identity and his power was inconsequential.

Shinji knew little about religion. He even supposed he knew more about Hinduism than Buddhism or Shinto by virtue of being part of it, but it honestly wasn't much more. He had gotten the feeling that gods must really enjoy being told how wonderful they are, but he didn't really get it.

"Um… Since I don't know how long we are going to, like, be stuck in here, and I know we just kinda got to say hi at chapel before this all happened, why don't we talk about ourselves? We are going to be working together so it would help if we could be friends, right?"

Shinji kept silent for now. He held onto some hope that the gaijin would shut up if he did not respond.

"Okay, so I'll start. So I got picked up for the program when I was really little, along with Ayanami. I dunno how well you've gotten to know her but she is just a little shy. I heard about her having a freak out a few years ago but I'm sure she is fine now and…"

"Rei is my girlfriend, I know her well."

"Oh…" Asuka responded, a little disappointed. She hadn't dated at her age of course and she wondered if the commander chaperoned their time together or maybe Misato. She was happy for Rei though, even if fourteen was a little young to have a boyfriend.

More silence passed. Asuka figured Shinji must be a little shy himself under all the bravado and tried to move it on again.

"So, um, my mama wasn't around and daddy has been really busy the last few years, but I've been with Master Kaji since I was seven and he is really the best family. I finished highschool a few years ago and just finished my bachelors last year. I am working on my master's thesis, still at the start though. I am a captain in the UN Air Force, but its pretty much just because I'm an eva pilot. SO, um, what about you?"

She wasn't going to shut up. May as well steer the conversation.

"I don't wish to discuss my childhood. My life since I began to fight the angels is all that concerns me." It was a lie, but he told himself it in the hopes it will help it to become true.

"Oh, um…"

"What do you study?"

"My bachelors was in mathematics, I am writing my thesis on quantum computer science. I know I know, you are probably thinking the same thing all the professors said…" Asuka said and waited for Shinji to put voice to it but continued on when it became clear he had no intention of doing so.

"So math and computer science tends to draw a lot of people away from God because they start seeing the world as totally reasonable and why look to God when you can understand everything is numbers, ya know? Me though, I see numbers and math as God's language and when we program we are creating the same way God did. Infinitely more simple system of course, even with a quantum computer, even with a cluster system like the MAGI. Now when you tackle a system like the evangelions, with traditional silicon systems integrated into synthetic nerve tissue, the problems grow with the processing power…"

She began to ramble again, but Shinji let her go. He still couldn't get his body to stop and slow down, but as she switched to English it all became white noise that he could at least meditate to.

* * *

><p>"Hey wannabe, where ya goin'?" Viral yelled over the din of the flight deck.<p>

Ryoji Kaji had just entered a UN fleet helicopter while several sailors loaded a long crate into the passenger cabin.

"Got a delivery to make to Commander Ikari! Tell Misato we will hook up when you all catch up!" Kaji said and waved goodbye. Viral returned his gesture with a one finger salute.

* * *

><p><em>"Oh Damn, damn, damn, damn the fishmen!"<em>

BLAM

_"Bug-eyed ass-ugly cabrones!"_

BLAM BLAM

_"Beneath steel by the ton, we'll civilize'em with a gun._

_And return us to our beloved homes!"_

Kensuke Aida and Toji Suzuhara were with one of the clearing teams being flown around to clean up the remaining sea creatures. Every ship, deck by deck, bulkhead by bulkhead, they searched.

While thought relegated to history, boarding actions had resurged in the impact wars and so detachments of marines aboard Navy ships were reformed to fulfill their very original purpose. Special ammunition had been developed to dump energy on impact and not ricochet around the steel cabins.

"Okay everyone, second verse, same as the first!" The one eyed fourteen year called and banged twice on the next pressure hatch before another sailor grabbed the wheel to open it.

_"Oooooh Damn, damn, damn, damn the fishmen!"_

The boys' ears were probably burning as they sang, but they were having far too much fun to notice.

* * *

><p>Ritsuko Akagi picked up the ringing phone on her desk. She was going over the reports on the latest angel that had been transmitted from the fleet.<p>

"Science Division, Dr. Akagi speaking."

"Hey Rits, its me."

"Oh hey Misato, I heard the battle went well, you must be pleased."

"Yeah I didn't get a chance to watch the big show, too busy fighting the little ones."

"I am sure you did fine, you have experience with invading crabs after all."

"Bite me. I was down to one bullet before Shinji's friends bailed my ass out. That's actually what I am calling about. Give it to me straight Rits, whats the deal with Aida Kensuke and Suzuhara Toji?"

"NERV has no connection with either Mr. Aida or Mr. Suzuhara…"

"Okay, you know what Akagi? Its shit like this that makes me wonder if we are friends anymore. These two handle guns like the damn SEALs, wanna know how I know that? Cause the goddamn SEALs are onboard and they are comparing notes with them! Those two kids are out there with best of the fucking best special ops teams in the world cleaning up the last of these freaks. They didn't get that way playing video games. Now I want both their files on my desk by the time I get back, classification be damned!"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Viral was beating back sailors at the telephone booths while he made his own call.<p>

"Hey Ssem, can ya hear me?"

"Loud and clear, what do ya got?"

"Good news and bad news. Good news we got another dead angel. Bad news, that little fucker Ryoji Kaji was here."

"Oi vey, of course he shows."

"Gets better, he is the second child's teacher. He left this morning on a helo, so I bet you are going to be seeing him real soon."

"Yeah I'll keep an eye out. He say anything about, you know?"

"No, no mention of his master either. Suppose you are going to have to ask him yourself."

* * *

><p>It was two days after the angel attack and the fleet was again underway. Some ships had lost enough crew and equipment that they would have been scuttled in the past. There were not enough dockyards in the world to build warships like they used to be though, so skeleton crews were put in place and equipment consolidated.<p>

On one such ship, a hold had been given over to the NERV personnel. With the huge overhead doors open, Viral stood between Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Soryu, one hand raised in the air. Asuka wore a slim fitting red outfit not unlike a jogging suit, a lowered hood swinging behind her as she bounced on the balls of her feet. Her hands were raised in fists in front of her and her hair was held back with a band. Shinji wore his uniform pants and a green t-shirt. He was simultaneously light on his feet and planted like a tree into the rubbery mat that covered the steel deck plating. His hands were raised, but open with fingers clawed.

Today was supposed to have been like Shinji's first day with Sinanju: breathing exercises and movement. But the damn gaijin had to turn everything into an argument. Viral had gotten tired of it and given in to her demands that they face off.

Oh well, thought Shinji, at least now I can put her in her place and she might shut up.

Asuka caught herself grinding her teeth as she waited for her barbaric looking new instructor to let them begin. Why did Kaji have to go and leave? Now she was stuck here with these two! Misato wouldn't even step in Viral was being mean and calling Master Kaji a fraud and an amateur. Who the heck was he to talk that way?!

She would show Viral though, and this arrogant little heathen who dared call himself a god. She thought the Japanese were supposed to be polite, but this jerk seemed like he was constantly on a power trip. Probably got coddled being Commander Ikari's son.

To Viral, it was simple. Let Shinji knock her a few good ones, calm her down, and then she will listen to him when he tries to fix what Kaji fucked up.

"Alright you two, this is sparing. Half speed, no killing each other. I will declare when its over, you got that?"

"Yes sensei!" They both replied. Asuka was growling like she was angry, Shinji was even, but loud enough for Viral to hear the frustration in his voice.

"Alright, on my go. Three… Two… One…"

"GO!" Came a voice from above. Viral looked up to see Misato standing on the edge of the enormous cargo hatch that currently served as their convertible ceiling. Her arms were crossed across her chest and she wore one of the navy's long winter coats around her shoulders, a habit she had picked up over the past two days.

Before he could think to stop them, the pilots were on the move. Asuka was charging forward at a dead run and led with a flying kick for Shinji's chest with her left leg. Shinji cupped his left hand and caught her heel. He twisted and swung his right hand around, fingers pointed in a knife hand to strike her on the thigh, just below the hip.

Between the twist and the pin point strike, she fell face down on the mat, yelping in pain. Shinji just stood over her with his hands on his hips as she cringed and held onto her left thigh.

"Half speed bai chi." He said. Among her seemingly endless rambling about herself, Shinji and learned Asuka spoke five languages: English, German, Spanish, French, and Japanese. She had called him an idiot in all five, which Shinji knew because she would gleefully inform him of what the words meant. Shinji Ikari spoke two languages: Japanese and Chinese, and mostly the impolite bits of the latter. He found it was so much more fun to not tell her what Chinese insults meant, it drove the little bitch nuts.

"What did you do to me?!"

"He hit a nerve running all the way down your leg with a knife hand strike. You should be able to move it in a few minutes." Viral said, now standing over Asuka.

"Isn't this a little much, goddamn it this hurts."

"Stop whining, you ain't dead. Shinji, go get her some ice, it will help."

"Oh come on Sensei…"

"Now, Shinji."

Shinji jogged off with a grumble, passing Misato. She too came to stand over the whining girl on the floor.

"You know Asuka, I said half speed for a reason…"

"Blow it out your ass!"

"Asuka!" Said Misato. "Show some respect. Nobody did anything wrong but you here."

Asuka was ready to say something else but kept her mouth shut.

"ANYway, I said half speed for a reason girl. I've been teaching Shinji from the start, I know what he can do and you have just confirmed everything I thought about what that loser Ryoji had taught you."

"Don't talk about master Kaji like that!"

"His teachings and your bad judgment got you where you are now. Going slow you might have been able to use strategy and find an opening but all out like that you can't win. Shinji is just too fast for you. The sooner you start listening, the sooner you can catch up."

Shinji brought the ice in a bag a quarter of an hour later. He had had to run all the way to the galley and "got lost" on the way back. Once she could move again, Asuka was happy to start with breathing and basic movement.

* * *

><p>Some time later, the pilots were taking a break up on deck. It was early afternoon and though the sun was high in the air and there were no clouds, a cool sea breeze kept them comfortable. They were both leaning on the railing and looking out at the water.<p>

"Shinji, what is Remo like?" Asuka asked.

Shinji shrugged. "Remo-sensei just _is_ I guess. He isn't even that big, but he just looks so solid its like he is more real than everything around him. He is a nice guy though, long as you don't try to deceive him, he hates that."

"Ah…"

They sat in silence and watched the waves for a while. Asuka had learned that Shinji preferred silence to pointlessly filling air. She was mindful that that was something she did, her time in Germany had taught her it was an American thing.

"It is beautiful out here."

"Ay."

"Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good…"

"Aaaand you had to go and ruin it."

"How it talking about god and the glory of his creation ruining it?"

"Because now you are going to talk about the bible again and try and get me to read it, or pray with you, or what the fuck ever."

"I am trying to help you, why are you holding it against me?"

"Just stop, okay? I don't want your damn book, I don't want your lectures, and I sure as hell don't want your god, or his mercy." Shinji snapped. He had tried being nice about it, but she just wouldn't let up. He didn't even really hate the religion, he just hated that she wouldn't stop talking about it.

"Well why don't you talk about it with me instead of just denying it from the start?"

"Fine, you want to talk about it, lets talk about it. Go for it, give me your best material, but if I still say I don't want it after you say everything you have to say, you leave it be, deal?"

"Sure… but what if I make you think about it? What if I get you just a tiny bit curious, what will do?"

Shinji thought about it for a moment, still staring out at the waves. "I'll read your book, front to back."

"Oh I like that, we can do it together. If that won't get some light in your heart I don't know what will."

"Whatever, get on with it."

Asuka ran through all her youth group discussions and teen ministry outreach as best she could. She could do this; she could show him goodness and get him to come into the light.

"Well, I guess I need to start with a question. Do you believe there is something beyond us, beyond the material world?"

"Yes."

"Well that's a start. What do you believe?"

"We are here to talk about your beliefs, not mine."

"Faith is universal, ultimately most religions revere the same things."

Okay, thought Shinji, fair point given what little he knew. "I am the destroyer, my brothers are the creator and protector. Brahma makes the world, Vishnu watches over its life, and in the end I am there to make it anew. Just like a life, the universe is born, lives, and will one day die and lose its form. What made it up will become the next universe and so and so forth."

"Okay this isn't going to work if you keep insisting you are a god, that's just silly."

"If your argument had any strength, who you are arguing with shouldn't matter."

"Okay fine… I have studied other religions, and I happen to know the hindus believe all their spirits and gods are in fact part of one greater being within whom all reality exists, called Brahman. What is to say Brahman did not make a part of himself to come down and shoulder the sins of the world on himself, and that man died so that all might be saved?"

"I suppose nothing would prevent it."

"So you admit it is possible?"

"To admit a thing is possible is not to say it happened. Would you say that to have one such man bear the sins of the world truly means all those beings are saved and without fault?"

"Not without fault, just without sin. What we do with our lives is still our choice."

"So you believe in free will then?"

"Yes, god gave us all choice."

"But this savior we are supposing existed, he took all the sins of the world upon himself?"

"Yes, selflessly, and suffered in our place for them."

"So all people, past present future?"

"Yes."

"So when did he ask?"

"… what?"

"Your savior took the worlds sins upon himself, right?"

"Well, uh yeah."

"So did he ask every single person if that was okay?"

"What… why would he ask that?"

"You said you believe in free will, right?"

"Yeah."

"So if your savior took everyone's sins from them, isn't that also taking their free will? At the very least it is taking their sins without asking."

"You can't be serious."

"I think it's a valid question. I'd like to hear your god's answer, from one god to another."

"Dammit, I should of known you were just going to be a troll, whatever, burn in hell like a pagan, I don't care."

* * *

><p>It took four more days to reach port on the east coast of Japan and the air between the pilots remained awkward. Shinji still couldn't get his body to slow and it became the most frustrating thing, even more so than dealing with the gaijin girl speaking, to slow down to what felt like a snail's pace to train with her.<p>

All that went away when he walk down the gangplank and saw Rei was there. She was wearing her green cammies just like Shinji.. The way down was crowded so Shinji leaped onto the handrail and ran down that way, stepping on a couple hands along the way. He took the last ten yards in one jump and just made the edge of the concrete dock. He thought he was going to fall in when Rei rushed him with a hug, but she held him up after letting him tilt to the water for a moment.

"I missed you warrior." She said

"And I missed you wildflower." He replied and squeezed her tight.

"You killed another without me. To arrange a battle in the middle of an ocean, your cheating knows no bounds."

"Sarcasm becomes you beloved."

"To spend time alone with Remo-sensei is to receive an education in it. How was your journey back?"

"It was…"

"AYANAAAAMI!" Came the shrill cry of the second child.

"…Frustrating…"

"I remember the second from some time ago, we met once as children. She did have a tendency to speak too much."

"You have no idea."

Asuka was down the gangplank in a flash, sailors happily getting out of her way. She was wearing her yellow dress again, but had left the sweater in her bag, which was hoisted over her shoulder. The breeze was not nearly as chilly on land.

"Oh my god its been so long, you look great, how are you?" The redhead said and dropped her bag to hug Rei, who did not return the gesture, letting her arms hang straight at her sides.

"You know he is going around claiming you are his girlfriend? As if right. Did you know he thinks he is a god? Oh I am so happy to see you, we can finally talk to another pilot without having to speak to the weirdo. That was cool of you to catch him when he almost fell off after trying that stupid move though." Asuka said, her face turned and eyes closed. When she opened her eyes she found the very angry crimson gaze of Rei upon her.

"What?"

"Ressentiment." Rei said. "German, from French, the bitterness one feels to another for being superior."

"Um…"

"He is my boyfriend and he is noble beyond your imagination. If you find him 'weird' it is for your own lack of culture, not his lack of worth."

"Nobody is my superior, we are all equal in god's eyes."

"The morality of a slave, and as worthless." Rei said and turned from her, taking Shinji by the arm with a huff, leaving Asuka stunned.

"That was… bold." Shinji said when they were a distance away from the now fuming red head.

"I have been reading quite a bit in your absence, and my new mentor does not tolerate weakness. Have you read the works of Nietzsche?"

"Never heard of him."

"Kensuke suggested him before you all left, I have enjoyed his works. I think you would as well. How are Kensuke and Toji, I heard they faced some combat as well?"

"That's an understatement. I only had to kill one big one, they were scouring the fleet for days looking for any remnants."

"I heard also that you fought with _that one_ in the cockpit with you." Rei said, gesturing with her head to Asuka.

"Yeah, she was a burden more than anything, her thoughts got in the way at first until I got her thinking about the same things as me. Her eva is nice though. She named it, ever thought about a name to call Unit Zero?"

"No, to me it has just been the eva. Perhaps a name would not be so bad... if it were sufficient to the honor of course."

"Of course."

* * *

><p>Four days before…<p>

"Report agent Kaji."

"Yes, commander. I was able to use my contacts in the European intelligence community to track the Chinese expedition into the South Asia Exclusionary Zone. They were not probing, they knew exactly what they were looking for. They recovered the artifact near Indore and exited by sea. From what I can tell they then spent several months at sea, receiving supplies by air drop. I believe this time was spent undergoing decontamination."

"A reasonable assumption, continue."

"The artifact was brought into Istanbul after that. Chinese State Security was attempting to use their underworld contacts to transport the artifact back to China overland. This is where I intercepted it. I diverted the package to Germany and got it on the fleet from there."

"Excellent, all is as planned."

"About my compensation Sir…"

"Yes yes, your activities will be overlooked while you are in the city, I will see to that."

"Thank you commander Ikari."

End

* * *

><p>Author notes:<p>

Okay so I want to talk about this chapter a little.

It is my intention to keep my personal views out of this particular story. Also, a big part of the overall character arc in this story is how we deal with moralities different from our own. Shinji goes from being powerless to being incredibly powerful, and sees all sorts of ways of using power along the way. How he chooses to use his power will be important.

Asuka's arguments and reactions are not supposed to represent a mature, reasoned adult. She is a spoiled 14 year old for goodness sake. Likewise, Shinji is not arguing the Hindu perspective; he is trying to get her to leave him alone. I would say don't crucify me, but someone might take that as a dig. Neither should be taken to be a comment on either religion.

In the same vein, I am not saying Rei is right. However she, more than Shinji, is embracing being a divine being. This makes her fond of Nietzsche's idea of "master" morality. She does not respect a system of rules outside of what she defines as good and bad. Good and bad are equal synonymous with good for Rei and harmful to Rei. She likewise does not see others as inherently equal. To be seen as an equal by someone like that, one has to show themselves to be equal.

Christianity, and so what Asuka claims to believe, is defined in this sense as a slave morality and that sort of fits with Asuka's canon character. She acts very superior, but in fact feels completely worthless inside. Her poor attitude and insults seek to make others like her. She imitates the thing she hates and resents as she sees it, those better than her. It should be pointed out that this is not how Christianity fits this idea, just Asuka. Christianity was said by Nietzsche to be a slave morality because it promoted equality, we are all equally wretched, that sort of thing.

On a lighter note, I am going to start posting some writing exercises I have been doing under the title The Shinji Ikari One Shots. Some of these reflect ideas I had for this story and just didn't fit, but all of them are in response to a comment I received that called the first several chapters of this story too slow. I agree with that assessment, so each of these little one shots is my attempt to do basically the first two episodes worth of a crack crossover in a single chapter without them feeling contrite or like they couldn't go anywhere, or be overly long. I am trying to write each so that they could be the start of a good story. If I get positive feedback, I will expand a given one out.


	22. Chapter 22

Actually got hate mail and a couple guest reviews that were unkind over the last chapter. Not like hey your writing sucks I appreciate those, just pissed over the positions some of the characters took. Nobody who actually put a name to their stuff though and I deleted the questionable reviews.

I also received a lot of good feedback and I am glad people are enjoying the story.

Warnings for this chapter:

-This chapter contains a stream of consciousness segment regarding child soldiers.

-This chapter contains references to alcoholism.

-This chapter contains minor discussion of religion from Asuka's view of the events around her and Shinji and Rei discussing how to deal with what to expect of mortals as gods (no spoiler it is literally the first scene).

Chapter 22

"Rei…"

"Yes beloved?"

"I want to talk about forgiveness."

It was the afternoon of the day of Shinji's return. Rei had insisted she have him to herself for the rest of the day. Misato had driven them here then gone back to work while the new pilot figured out her accommodations.

Rei pushed herself up and looked down at him. They had been laying on her bed in her apartment, Shinji on his back with his hands over his head and she with her arm around his chest. Now she sat over him with her legs alongside his, her long azure hair hanging just above his stomach. As it had gotten longer and she put effort into it, its color had deepened. They were wearing their BDUs and T-shirts, their blouses hung up and their boots next to each other on the floor.

"Have you done something I should know about? As long as it did not involve the gaijin I am sure I can forgive you." She said. Remo's snark had rubbed off on her.

"No, not something I did… When we first got to the fleet, they were having church services and it got me thinking. What if they were praying to me, to forgive them for the things they had done for survival, would I answer? And if I am going to forgive, what's forgivable and what's not? Its like, if we hold the fate of their souls in our hands, what rules do we set down for ourselves, and do we tell them or is figuring it out half the battle?"

Rei moved a bit and propped her chin up on her elbow. She thought for a while, her eyes looking towards the ceiling. "Well that comes down to what we define as good and bad I suppose. What things should people feel sorry about doing in other words. I don't think we do hold their fates in our hands though. At this point, I believe that humans have free will and choose their actions. If their intentions and their actions are aligned, then they probably won't feel bad about what they have done. Good intentions and good actions come from and result in good people. Bad intentions with bad actions lead to bad people, but ultimately they are at peace with themselves and what may happen to them. It is when the two conflict that a person feels bad. Good intentions and bad actions, bad intentions masked by good actions. Both are reprehensible."

"Okay I can understand that. If we connect that to dharma, then would you agree that righteous, good, whatever you wish to call it, action with righteous intention is ultimately the origin of a good person? Or are they a person good first, and then take right action?"

"Logically it has to be the first one. A description of a person as good or righteous must come from an observer to be genuine and an observer must observe something having occurred to make a valid observation. Ergo, right actions and right intent make good people."

They thought on that together, silent but pursuing paths of thoughts in parallel. It was a while later, as the sunlight through the window had moved from one side of the room to the other, that Shinji spoke again.

"Gods Asuka is a bitch."

"Your observations are deep and thoughtful as always, warrior."

"But we have to work with her, you know? And yeah she is a gaijin, a barbarian by all accounts, but I feel bad for coming down on her just for not knowing how to act around us."

"I feel that I know where this is going…"

"Well its doesn't help anything if we keep it this way. Its just going to make every moment around her awkward and that could get someone killed."

Rei sighed and slid down to lay her head on his chest. "I do not wish to apologize to her. I recognize it is right, but I feel distaste at the thought."

"Righteous actions and righteous intent…"

"Yes, yes… Will you go with me?"

"Well yeah, I wasn't any better. I kind of really said some mean things about her and her faith."

"Okay then, we will go together and apologize for our poor actions, and request that she do so in return so that we can all work together in peace… or in war rather, you know my meaning."

"Deal… You know there was something else I thought about while we were out there on the sea."

"And what is that, warrior?"

Shinji wrapped his arm around Rei and rolled them over together so that he was over her and pressed his lips to hers. It was sloppy, awkward, and decidedly not one of the great kisses of all time. It was however heavenly to one teenage boy and one teenage girl and Shinji felt and heard the little moan Rei made into his mouth.

"That." He said simply as their lips separated.

Rei looked up at him in shock. "When… how…"

That was their first kiss. It had never felt right before, for either of them. But that felt good.

"I don't know, but… its like there used to be all this stuff that got in the way in my head and I feel like its gone now. Well, not gone, but it doesn't get in the way anymore. You know what I mean?"

"Exactly." She said and grabbed his head in both hands and pulled him down for further practice.

The knock on the door was unwelcome to say the least. Shinji actually heard Rei snarl as she pushed him off her and stomped to the door.

Whatever was on the other side of her door, Rei thought, had interrupted alone time with Shinji. Rei liked alone time with Shinji. She REALLY liked alone time with Shinji now that their stupid pasts weren't getting between their present pleasures. Whatever was on the other side of that door had better be worth the interruption, or it would know the wrath of Rei.

When she opened the door, she took very thorough consideration of whether to continue to grant Toji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida the title of "friends" or to redesignate them "things which Rei scrapes from her boot". Both were still wearing the olive drab uniform, though Kensuke had added a yellow scarf around his neck and tucked into his collar.

"Hey guys, uh, what are you doing here?" Shinji said from behind her. Rei hoped the boys would show proper gratitude to their hero. They had, without knowing it, their closest brush with death since the angel attack.

"We need to talk." They said in unison.

"Ooookay, what about?" Shinji asked. He was now standing beside Rei.

"Can we come in?" Ken asked.

That depends, thought Rei.

Kensuke held up a bag. "I bought some goodies with some of the money I won gambling back on the fleet. You guys ever had good chocolate, I mean the real stuff not that mostly filler stuff they sale to kids?"

"You may certainly come in." Rei said and grabbed by Kensuke by the arm and jerked him inside. His offering was pleasing, he would live.

"Hey Shinji, I actually want to talk to you alone if I could, I think Ken would rather say what he has to say to Rei without anyone around too if you know what I mean." Toji said. His hands were shoved in his pockets and his eyes were down.

Shinji turned to Rei and they nodded to eachother. Shinji grabbed his boots and followed Toji. They ended up on the roof, among the air conditioning vents and the birds.

"Okay man, whats up?" Shinji said.

Toji was leaning against one of the sheet metal intakes. He had not met Shinji's gaze yet.

"Alright, so give me a chance when I go slow, this isn't something I am used to doing, okay?"

"Okay man, take your time."

"Okay so…. A while back, when we first met, you know first semester, few days after the first attack… I lied to you and its been weighing heavy on me since. You know how I said my sister got hurt in a car accident and that she would be fine soon?"

"Yeah." Shinji replied. A quick review in his mind gave him the troubling sign that Toji hadn't said anything about his sister in the nearly nine months since.

"Yeah, so she hasn't gotten any better. She still hasn't woken up… We don't know if she ever will. And it wasn't just that its…" Toji stopped, clenching his fist and fighting his body to not have tears in his eyes. Dammit, he wasn't good at this shit. He was good at fighting and winning, he was good at seeing the next two steps ahead better than anyone. It was seeing beyond that, seeing the days and weeks and months that he sucked at. It was putting the surging ups and spiraling downs that he hid behind a mask to words that gave him trouble.

Shinji stepped towards his friend and Toji stepped back, swinging one big arm out to ward the smaller boy away. Even with the muscle he had put on, Shinji was still tiny next to Toji.

"J-just give me a sec, okay?" Toji said. He concentrated, slowed down his breathing, and stopped the tears. When he felt back in control, he raised his head and looked Shinji in the eyes.

"Sakura wasn't hurt in a car accident. We didn't get out of the city in time. When you were fighting the angel, the damage from the battle made a gas line blow down the street. The explosion didn't get to us, but it shook the building and a big piece of the next floor up landed on. W-when Ken told me you were the pilot, I swore to god I was going to kill you. I was said I was going to strangle the life out of you then crush your head like a grape for fun."

"Toji… Oh man I am sooooo sorry, anything I can…"

"Stop! Just shut up and let me finish, okay?... So I was planning to put on this nice face, size you up, then do the deed. Then I met you though, and I am like hey I can't kill this guy for hurting my kid sister. You are doing what I wish I could, you were being a real samurai. You serve the people and fight to keep them safe and you know what, they treat you guys like shit, you know that? You were this… well I mean no offense man but you were kinda pathetic. So I am thinking hey this little kid is doing what you don't have the balls to get down and do. Then I was there with Ken when you fought the second one. I saw on the news what you and Rei did with the big blue one and you were awesome and all but she really kind of showed you up there, no offense."

"None taken, on either count."

"What? Oh yeah, right, guess I said it twice. Anyway, it was out there on the fleet though. When all the little ones attacked, and I was in the thick of it, I had this... Dad once called it something like that a moment of clarity. Where all the bullshit is just gone and you catch a glimpse of the real truth for just a second, know what I mean?"

"Yeah."

"So my moment was I realized that I felt more real taking on those freaks than I ever had before. I wasn't a mask to make everyone feel alright about the kid who could break them eight ways from Sunday, I wasn't the bullshit guy holding back so the refs didn't get mad or anything like that. I was fully and totally me and in all of it I saw you." Toji said and held up both hands, each index finger pointing at Shinji.

"You were out there handling the big stuff, and I was taken care of the trash so you could concentrate. I was keeping Captain Katsuragi safe so you didn't have to worry about her. I felt happy and like the happiest I have ever fuckin' been just out there doing what I do best for a purpose. I was fighting for someone, I was fighting for you. And I realized that that was I wanted to do. You got the big things to worry about and I know you got things even bigger than the angels to worry about, I can feel it. I want to be there and be the guy that makes sure all the little shit is taken care of."

Toji stood up off the vent and took a deep breath, then straightened out his uniform before kneeling with his legs together and his toes under his ankles.

"So this is me, offering you my sword. Well I don't have a sword, but you know what I mean. If you will have me Lord Shinji Ikari, I want to be your samurai. When you are off fighting angels, I want to be the one making sure you don't have to worry about the people you love on the ground. I will protect them, I will give you the freedom to do whatever it takes to defend everyone else. So… yeah."

In his accelerated state, his Shiva state, Shinji felt more connected to the vague memories of ages past that he could sometimes feel at the back of his mind. Memories of kings and emperors, of warriors and heroes. In that moment, with Toji on the ground looking up at him, he felt the connection. He felt the emotions, the love… and that's really what it was, love like brothers or a father and son, between a king and his most loyal warrior.

Shinji felt the truth and sincerity of what Toji offered him. While Shinji loved Misato like family, he never considered himself a part of NERV. They were using him, not working with him. It was Shiva who found it only sensible to build up his own strength, and where better to start than here, when better than now.

Shinji knelt in front of Toji and embraced him tightly. When he spoke, it was a whisper in Toji's ear but it sounded like he spoke with the boom of thunder.

"_I accept you and name you my sword hand. Whatever comes, whatever results, you shall be at my side. To be where I cannot be, to do what I cannot do, to protect those I must put in harms way to fulfill my duty, and to bring my retribution upon those I cannot myself hunt. Your fate will be as mine. As I prosper, so shall you prosper. As I weep, so shall you weep. I promise you that your sister is now as my own and that one say she will awaken and when she does, she will find a world that is put right from the wickedness it has entered into. And it will be her brothers, you and I, who will make it right._"

Shinji pulled away and they looked at each other eye-to-eye, Shinji's hands resting on Toji's shoulders.

"T-thank you, Shinji."

"Shiva, call me Shiva… and there are many things I have to tell you."

Some floors below, at roughly the same time, another conversation was taking place.

Rei had torn open a piece of foil wrapped chocolate within second of slamming the door shut. She hadn't had chocolate in years and until this moment it had not occurred to her that she could simply go out and BUY it. Her moaning must have been loud enough for Kensuke to hear.

"Heh, glad you like it."

Rei turned and nodded. "Mhmm." She mumbled out before swallowing.

"What is it you wish to discuss, Kensuke?"

"Well, um, I have been thinking about, you know stuff." He said nervously. His one blue eye was searching the floor and ceiling, staying away from Rei. "And then the fight with the angel and those things out on the fleet. And it all started that day at school, with the fight. Your voice got all weird and you called Shinji Shiva and said you were protecting humanity and… well it all got weird and then I got shot and getting' shot in the head makes you think about a lot of stuff." Ken said, his speech getting faster and faster.

"Calm yourself, Ken." Rei said and picked up the low metal stool that was to the side of her bed. She placed it in the middle of the single room and sat down on her bed.

"Sit." She said, pointing to the stool.

"Um, okay." Ken said and sat down facing Rei. "So, while I was in the hospital, one of the nurses gave me a book to read and it was from Indian mythology and about..."

"The war between the Panduvas and the Kauravas?"

"Yeah how did you know?"

"Was the nurse wearing an old white outfit, gave her name but you can't remember it when you try?"

"Yeah that was her."

"We've met."

"Oh, well, so I read it and then I started reading other stuff and books about the mythology and I came across the name Shiva and his consort… Is this ringing bells Rei?"

"Yes."

"So which one are you?"

"Which one what?"

"Shiva's wife is a goddess with many forms and names called Shakti. Her forms represent her aspects as the power behind the universe. So which one are you?"

"Do you think I am a goddess Kensuke?"

"Yes."

"You certainly know how to flatter a girl. Which do you imagine I am Kensuke Aida?" She said, leaning forward with her elbows on her needs, red eyes locked with blue. "What form has the power of the universe taken to stand alongside Shiva in battle?"

"So he is Shiva?"

Rei snapped her teeth and light flared behind her eyes. Ken grabbed the seat beneath him as he startled.

"_Answer my question._"

"Kali! Y-you're Kali! Time, the ultimate end of everything."

"_What do you plan to do with this information now?_"

"N-nothing nothing, I mean well not nothing but I'm on your side, I promise. I never believed in anything before but when I started reading, faith made sense to me. I mean the Eva, that weird light you can do, dharma, it all fit. I have seen it all myself, its not even belief, I know you and Shinji, Shiva, whatever, are here to save everyone. The angels are important enough that you both came down to protect us all."

Rei looked at him, but to Ken it felt like she was looking through him with those red eyes that smoldered like coals.

"When y-you held me, I felt… for the first time in my life I felt loved! Nobody even likes me but Toji and you guys, I never knew mom and I am pretty sure dad is just afraid of me. When I was in your arms though, I knew what it was to feel mother's love. Kali is supposed to be terrible and deadly, but she is also in everything and everyone. She is, I mean you are, the dark mother of creation. Time finds everyone, no matter what else we do and when it is all dead and cold all of it is before you."

As Rei stood Kensuke held up his hands, palms clasped together.

"I don't care what the doctors say, I am here today, I live, because of you. I owe you my life. If I had to give an eye to have the wisdom to see that then I gave it happily. Toji and I, we aren't like you, we can't fight the angels! But when you are fighting the angels, you have to focus, you can't worry about protecting every single person. Let me help you…"

Rei took Ken's hands in her own and held them to her stomach.

"… Dark mother, let me be your hand. Let me move where you cannot, allow me to find the threats from within humanity and purge them while you fight the enemy from without."

As Rei regarded him, his lip was quivering and a tear came from his single blue eye.

"Let me be the first to give you tribute. Let me tell others of your beauty and your power."

Oh yes, Kali thought, he will do.

"_I require something of you first Kensuke Aida._"

"Anything, ask and it is yours."

"_Tell me of your pain._" She said and released his hands. When she had Shinji sitting here she could see the pain and anger bound up in each scar on his body. In Kensuke it was all pulled in on itself in his mind. It was a beautiful thing his mind, so full of potential and… something else.

"_Where did you learn to fight?_"

"Um, I… I went to summer camp and that's where I met Toji and we did some shooting and stuff, its all just practicing the basics, that all."

"_I do not believe you but I sense you do not willfully lie._" Rei stepped over his legs and sat, straddling him.

"R-rei, what are you…?"

She raised her hands to his face and held his head between them. Her crimson eyes glowed bright enough to cast his face in red light.

"_Tell me of your pain, tell me of the knowledge within you that is not your own._"

"Rei…"

"_Kali._"

"K-kali, please, I don't want to remember, it hurts, please!" Tears streamed down his face now. His heart was going a million miles a minute. Every fiber of his being was telling him he should not speak, he could not speak. But within his heart, the light of faith had been lit.

A tiny voice in Kensuke's head soothed his mind over the screams that filled his mouth. His faith would be the fire to light the dark places.

As she touched her head to his, Kensuke remembered and she remembered with him. The pain was incredible, but her strength dulled it enough for him to see the truth. It came to her in flashes and pieces of thought, as though she lacked the context to see the rest for what it was.

* * *

><p>Men in black, red leaves. NERV.<p>

Children, boys like him. Needles, machines, tests. Hot, cold, weight, water. Sink or swim. Keep up or wash out.

Finish first and get a whole dish. Second got half a plate. Third got scraps. Everyone else fought over leavings.

Every week another one cut. Not dead, he saw them after at school. But they didn't remember.

No light, no sun. Cold metal hallways, fluorescent lights.

The bell sounds, wake up. Inspection. Run, swim, bikes that go nowhere. Food for the best, crumbs for the rest.

Machines, terrible machines that put thoughts in his head. Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Nicaragua, Panama, back to the desert. He had been there and never left Japan. He had fought in real wars and wars that could never be allowed to exist.

Out of the machines, time to practice. Make the thing he remembered making, shoot the gun he remembered shooting, move like he remembered moving.

He never did those things, but he remembered.

Food for the best, crumbs for the rest.

Back in the machines, but not for memories. Simulation. Compete, fight, kill. See the blood, don't feel. Animals, not men, not fathers, not brothers, not sons. Targets, enemy. The enemy dies, he is forgotten, on to the next target.

Run, swim, cycle again.

Take apart, reassemble, clean, inspection. Darkness, do it again, can't see, do it anyway.

Food, but only hungry for the scores.

Posted and read out every day at dinner. Who did best, who was a shame to their parents and their country. End of food, not enough. Loser's fault they said.

Find the loser, hit him until he wasn't angry anymore. Had to help him get better. If the loser got better they could get more food, more sleep, go home, see dad. No moms. None of them knew a mother.

NERV. NERV was there to build them up. NERV could be mother. No, they said that, never worked.

See the lights watch the show.

What is your major malfunction?

Cavalcade of Brunhilde and her sisters

The horror the horror

Five shots or six?

Follow me boys

Do you want to live forever?

Sleep, dream of heroes. Dream of being the hero. Kill the enemy, kill him with your hate and anger. Save the girl. Sex and violence. Sex Violence. SexViolence. LoveHate. Hard, stiff, angry, greedy.

The gun, the stain. The red the white. The red from the enemy, the white from him.

Weeks. No talking, but they weren't always watching. Big, strong. Threat? No, friend. Only friend. Trust friend. Trust no one else.

It ends. They are all failures. Needles and lights and shows. Make it go away. Pain to remember, all will forget.

The mind can forget, the body cannot.

His muscles remembered how to do the things. All of the things.

* * *

><p>As Rei pulled herself from his mind, the screaming turned to sobs. She held Kensuke's head to her chest and stroked his hair as she had when the shot had taken his eye.<p>

"Ssssssh, its okay, you did well, I am proud of you. We have many things to discuss my child." She said. Rei reached down and hooked a finger into the yellow scarf around Ken's neck.

"Why do you wear this?"

The boy snorted as he pulled back his crying. "Its… it just something I thought was appropriate. Yellow is the color of mercenaries and partisans. A force outside nations, an army without a country."

"I like it. It will be our symbol now. Wear it as a sign of loyalty to Shiva and myself, and have others who see our glory do the same."

"Yes dark mother."

* * *

><p>Shinji was breathing heavy. The attack was like a hurricane. The movement never stopped and as soon as a blow passed another was already there. What the hell kind of style was this?<p>

Asuka was panting and was holding herself up over her knees. She licked her lips and looked at Shinji with a wicked grin. "Heh, not laughing now, are ya ya damn heathen?"

"You haven't actually hit me yet."

"I was goin' easy on ya."

"Alright you two." Remo said, interrupting their banter. "I have seen enough Asuka. You aren't bad for who taught you, but I can see where we need to work. Both of you, get some water."

When the pilots turned they found Rei already approaching with three water bottles. One in each hand and one tucked beneath her arm. All three simply collapsed down on the mat right there for their break. Rei had been working with Viral while Remo analyzed Asuka's technique, using Shinji as her target.

"Hey Asuka, we, uh, we wanted to tell you something."

Asuka tilted her head down to look at them from suckling the water bottle. "Hm?" She mumbled with the spout still in her mouth.

Shinji looked to Rei and she grudgedly went first.

"Soryu-san, I am… sorry for how I spoke to you yesterday. I had missed Shinji greatly and was unhappy with how you spoke about him, but I was incredibly rude. We need to work together and I do not want that grievance between us."

"I'm sorry too Asuka. I was under a lot of stress out there and I had other stuff on my mind, but I shouldn't have treated you like I did. I'll even tell you what all the Chinese meant if you want."

"Um, wow guys, I… I don't know what to say. I… I accept your apologies, and hope you can forgive how I acted. It was stupid and immature."

Both Japanese pilots nodded and Asuka raised her water bottle toward them. "To not being perfect, and forgiving those who trespass against us."

They raised their bottles together and drank.

"So what did all that Chinese mean anyway?"

"Weeeeeeell, a lot of it was just stupid, idiot, that sort of thing. Cao ni zuzong shiba dai is kind of particularly Chinese though."

"Well come on, tell us what it means."

"Fuck your ancestors to the eighteenth generation."

"Ouch."

"So where did they end up putting you? Misato said there was a big old argument about it."

"I wouldn't call it an argument, just different military standards is all."

"What do you mean?"

"UN air force says as an officer I have to be housed with a certain number of square meters to myself. The hotel that was booked didn't meet the requirement. I stayed anyway, the desk jockeys are figuring it out today. I don't see why I can't just stay with Master Kaji."

At that moment, the door to the converted storeroom slid open and Misato walked in.

"Hey kids!"

The pilots raised their bottles to her and stayed seated.

"So I have good news for you Asuka, we figured out your quarters."

"Oh good, do I get to stay with Master?"

"Uuuuuuh no." Misato said. She hadn't even given the idea any consideration. She felt bad for what they did to these kids, she wasn't going to make it worse. "You are going to be staying with me and Shinji."

"WHAT?!" Asuka and Rei screamed together.

Asuka may have apologized and she liked Misato and all but the Japanese had tiny apartments and it wasn't like she wanted to live with a **boy** who wasn't family. It wasn't proper!

Rei was furious. Give the gaijin her apartment; she didn't want the bitch living with** her boyfriend**.

Shinji was not too upset. Having someone else semi responsible around would cut down on his chore load. He wondered where she was going to sleep though.

"And uh, kind of bad news too. Shinji, see Asuka has a lot of stuff and regulations say I can count the communal living space but to meet regs we have to give her your room."

Oh fuck this shit to the eighteenth generation.

"Then where the fuck I am I supposed to sleep?!"

"Well there is another room across from yours, it's a little smaller I know but…"

Shinji thought about it. Yeah there was a door across from his but he always figured it was a closet. He had never actually opened it. Lesson he learned early in life, do not go searching in women's closets.

* * *

><p>Later that night as he finally opened the door, he found that it was, indeed, a closet. There was a single bare light bulb above and no windows. He took the short walk back to the kitchen table and sat down across from Misato.<p>

"Yeah, that's a fucking closet." He stated as if beginning a debate.

Misato sighed and rested her head on her palm with her below braced against the table.

"I know Shinji, I'm sorry but we have to comply with housing regs for officers and…"

"Well what am I then? Sensei says we are independent contractors for NERV, doesn't that give me some kind of minimum habitation?"

"I'm sorry Shinji, we were low on options."

"Well what are you going to do about it?"

"I SAID I AM FUCKING SORRY, OKAY?" She snapped, pounding one fist on the table. "Look, I know its not great, but its what we have right now. I know I am asking you to give up something but I need you to work with me on this. You will have to take an apology as good enough right now. Besides, its just till we can figure something else out."

Misato felt sorry for snapping, but she needed Shinji to go along to get along right now. It was this or well this. Kaji didn't want her, he was too busy with his floozies and cloak and dagger shit. James Bond wannabe. Even if she was officially an officer, regulations regarding the pilots said they had to be given guardians and since Kaji wasn't interested she got dropped on Misato. So for now it was just smooth things out until…

"Shinji, what are you doing?" She asked as he started lacing up his boots.

"Leaving." He said as he tied off the second knot and went to grab his blouse from the pile of clothes outside what was his room and was now filled with boxes a moving company had dropped off. He didn't know where the girl was, he did not care.

"What do you mean, its late and you have training in the morning. Where are you going?"

"Rei's. I have my phone with me."

"Shinji, I don't…" Was all she got out before he turned to face her. Shinji was already in a foul mood about the gaijin moving in. He liked Misato but goddamn it he wasn't going to have his shit uprooted to deal with some pompous barbarian. He was still high strung and unable to leave his accelerated state and all of that left him with very little patience.

"Look, I know its not great, but its what we got right now." He parroted back with acid in his voice. "I know I am asking you to give up the one who does all your cooking and cleaning for you, but I need someone who will actually work with me on this. You will have to accept this as good enough for now."

Shinji took his phone from his pocket and dialed Rei while Misato was in shock. Her sweet little boy had just dressed her down worse than any officer in the JSSDF.

"Yeah… see you in a bit wildflower… naw I haven't eaten yet, want me to pick something up?.. oooh, I get to have dinner made me for me for once, such a lucky guy." He said and flipped the phone closed. He turned back to Misato and saw the hurt in her eyes. He considered metaphorically turning back. Call Rei back and tell her nevermind, or just go for dinner and come back and talk it out with Misato. He could deal with a smaller room for a while. He even felt a little bad for giving Misato a dirty look when he commented about having dinner made for him.

Wait, no fuck that. That's how it always was. Little things, little sacrifices, just temporary, always became big things that never went away. He loved Misato, but not enough to put up with this shit.

"Shinji…" she said and reached out to touch his arm. "… I'm sorry. Please, its just for a few nights, maybe…"

Shinji took a step back before she touched him. He was angry. Anger was comfortable. He knew anger. Rage that he could never express had been his constant companion in life. When you are powerless it just builds and builds. Well now he had power, now he could change things.

"If really felt bad for doing this to me, then you wouldn't be doing it." He said and turned on his heel away from her, huffing through his nose. He walked not towards the door to the hall but to the glass door onto the balcony. She got up to follow, he slid it shut in her face and put one foot up on the railing. He looked out at the shining city in the darkness.

"Shinji, please what are you doing?!" She said as she opened the door but then he was gone over the railing. She looked over the edge with horror but was shocked to find him bounding his way down the building and landing on his feet on the street.

"SHINJI!" She yelled and he looked back up at her before turning away and setting off on a run.

Misato slumped down against the concrete side of the balcony. She was crying. She was going to offer him her bed. She would have slept in the living room, or maybe not… It was cold at night. And then she felt filthy. By the time Asuka got home, she was passed out in her room with the door open. The bottle was empty but for her sorrows.

Asuka sighed. Her dear friend had strayed from the path of the light again. She would have to find her way back into her heart, to bring her back. As she knelt over the futon before going to sleep, she prayed.

"Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. They kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…" She thought of Rei and Shinji. They had apologized, she had not expected that. But she should have known better, there is goodness in all people.

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…"

Deep in the geofront, Gendo Ikari pressed a button and his office went dark before the monoliths rose around him.

"For thine is the kingdom…"

Even further down, Ritsuko Akagi looked upon a great red cross and the creature bound there. Around her, the aberrations floated in the putrid yellow fluid.

"And the power…"

Across the city, Rei Ayanami opened the door to her beloved. They embraced. Her studio apartment had new decoration, yellow curtains that separated the kitchen and the main room from the doorway. They hung about the bedroom in banners too, and a single low lamp lit it in a warm dimness. They kissed without reservation or pain entering their minds.

"And the glory…"

Elsewhere, Kensuke Aida sat at his computer, books propped up around him. He had seen the bald ones in orange robes around. They had coverage but their low rate of success told of poor execution. People needed to identify their survival with the message. They needed to give thanks to their real saviors, not NERV.

"Forever and ever. And please watch over Misato and grant her the vision to come back to grace. And please watch over Master Kaji while he goes about his work, and Remo and Viral and grant me the way into the heart of Shinji Ikari. He debases you and denies you, and calls himself equal to your glory, but there is goodness in him and Rei too, and I know they can see the light. Please watch over us in our battle against your fallen angels. Amen."

End

* * *

><p>NOTE: before you start thinking there is something there, there isnt' To find ones way into someones heart has a particular meaning in evangelical christian culture. Its not that Asuka is attracted to Shinji, she wants to convert him.<p>

So I am not Christian as I have stated before, but I was raised in it. The fact I remembered the lord's prayer perfectly after 20 odd years of not saying it is a little scary.

Tried two new things in this chapter, the stream of consciousness and the switching scenes over Asuka praying which is more of a movie thing and I am not sure how well it works out.

So ultimately, the big question of this fic is if Shinji Ikari is a real, honest, god, what does he do when he finally unlocks all that power? Even more so than canon, Shinji is a messed up little kid. As we have seen recently, he is spiteful and just freakin' angry. Truly a nice guy on the inside, but all that bound up pain and frustration does things to you.

Shinji is a character that I am more familiar with than I would like. I make no claims that my life has been nearly as bad as his is depicted here. However when I first saw Evangelion nearly 15 years ago, I identified with the character of Shinji Ikari and this story's Shinji is a reflection of perhaps how I would have felt in his place.

When you grow up powerless, you do get angry. A lot. Without an outlet, that frustration just builds on itself and condenses down. Your core becomes a superheavy mass of rage. It becomes what drives you. It reaches critical mass and if you can come to terms with, and match your intentions with your actions, and find (or create) the values that suit you, you can control it. It becomes your power source, your reactor. You can move on and maybe one day leave it behind when it stops serving you. Or you lose control, and you have a meltdown.

In anime terms, I know what it is to have an S2 organ based on hate, piss, and vinegar. Properly harnessed, it is inexhaustible. It forces you to succeed not because of the people around you, but in spite of them. Nobody can keep going through more than someone who knows true hate for the universe itself for the hardships it puts upon them. You become like the angels though: Stuck in one form, not changing, not moving forward, a dead end.

Ultimately though, it is better to leave it behind and break through. To kick trauma and bullies, and adversity to the curb. To stand up, as everything you are and nothing you aren't and show the universe who the hell you really are.

I may have given something away there. The secret to life or maybe just spoilers for this fic, I dunno.


	23. Chapter 23

Woohoo, double update! You all might even get a third before the weekend is out as well as another Shinji Ikari One Shot.

Why the high output? Because I write as a stress reliever and life pulls no punches.

Chapter 23

Shinji hadn't seen Misato for three days. He had seen Asuka during their daily training, but she had said nothing of their guardian. Viral had commented when he and Rei arrived together, but nothing hurtful, just teasing. Shinji had expected it though, it was not without cause.

He and Rei had slept together, in the same bed. Slept, that was it he told himself. Well they kissed, and their hands wandered, but that was it. Well besides when Rei started nibbling on his neck last night. When he woke up after the first night, he felt like he had slept for days. He was in the shower when he realized his body had finally left the accelerated state.

Asuka had practiced alone with Remo for the past three days. He said it was to get her up to speed. Rei and Shinji had been left with Viral, but that was fun. Remo wanted an exercise done perfectly, without deviation. Practicing with Viral was more like play once they mastered the initial exercise. Together, Shinji and Rei could overcome him once in a while.

They had him on the ropes when Remo stopped them.

"Alright kids. Bring it in." Remo said, walking over with Asuka. When Shinji turned at his sensei's voice, Viral tagged him across the back of the head. Rei missed returning the favor within a few inches and Viral spun around and bopped her on the head too.

"Okay, Asuka is pretty much caught up. Now Shinji's had some time and seen that she fights in a pretty different way from what you two are used to. That's good, that will teach you all to adapt. Rei, you and Asuka will practice with Viral. Shinji, come with me, got something I want to teach you."

Shinji and Remo left. Rei was inwardly ecstatic. Shinji had told her of these bouts with the gaijin and her lightening speed. Outside, she was of course composed, even… blank. She reserved her energy to show feeling for her beloved, at night, between them only. For the food they made for each other, for the pain their hands took from each other, and the pleasure they returned. A little too for their small flock, Kensuke and Toji. And now this girl, she too would have that honor.

Rei took her place across from the girl in red on the mat, with Viral between them. Asuka still wore the red slim fitting synthetic uniform she had brought with her. Rei wore the same gi she had been given when Remo and Viral arrived. It was worn beige from its original white, the obi belt across it brown. Both had their hair loose, Asuka's just a tad longer.

"Okay you two, this is going to be half speed…"

Asuka rose up on the balls of her feet and shook out her hands before clenching them into fists. She was the tiger, ready to pounce.

Rei let her arms hang loose at her sides and let all the tension slip from her body, gently swaying back and forth. She was the cloud, loose in the air.

"Now I want you both to be…" Viral just stopped and looked at the girls. There might as well have been seats, lights and popcorn for all the energy in the air between them.

"Okay screw it, just don't kill each other. You both got things that need working out, might as well get it out now…" Viral said and raised one knife hand into the air. He always wanted to say this, just once, but Remo would have kicked his ass.

"Heaven or hell, lets rock!" He yelled and dropped his hand.

Asuka was on the attack, crossing the mat with bladed hands already slicing through the air. When Rei ducked the first one, she whipped her body around the kick, and second blade strike that followed. As the second kick came around Rei began her counter attack.

The tiger pounces and kills its prey through careful stalking and perfect effort. The cloud brings thunder, lightening and flood and kills thousands and destroys lives without effort. It simply is.

Rei struck out with an open palm and caught Asuka on the thigh, right where her legs met. Clenching her fingers she took control of her entire center and lifted up to take her from the ground then slammed her down on her ass. Rei rocked her entire body to power the throw and fell with Asuka, letting go of her leg to lock the other with her clenched arm and let her weight take the breath from Asuka as they struck the ground.

She didn't expect the hammer blow to her abdomen to leave her breathless or the arm around her throat as Asuka twisted around beneath her and threw her to the mat. Asuka ended up in a three point stance as Rei rolled to all fours.

Rei rose up on her toes and fingertips then snapped and snarled at Asuka. Asuka got to her feet with a twist and was back on her toes with her fists up. In the moment of stillness as they both tensioned their bodies again, Asuka raised one finger and beckoned.

* * *

><p>Far above, in the geofront woods, Shinji sat across from Remo on the grass of a clearing.<p>

"So you are living with Rei now?"

"I thought you wanted to teach me something, Remo-sensei."

"I do, I just have questions. Explain to me why you chose to move."

"Misato told me Asuka was getting my room and I had to move into a closet. I'd just rather sleep in a bed, with Rei especially."

"Well just be careful, last thing I want to deal with is a pregnant Rei."

"Sensei… we aren't doing that. And you know Rei can't have children."

"Yeah, sorry, shouldn't have tried to double blind you like that. So you moved for better living conditions?"

"Well and I was still taking care of Misato, it was getting old."

"Does Rei do all the chores then?"

"Well, no, we share but it's different."

"You are mutually grateful."

"Yes."

"Living with someone you love can break a relationship. Its all fresh and new at first, but you find things about each other that will drive you to rage. A wise man once said if you have never been ready to murder your partner, you have never been in love. Are you ready to deal with that?"

"Yes Sensei, I think so. I know how to handle anger."

"Is that why Major Katsuragi still can't bear to see you?"

"What?"

"I do not know what you said or did Shinji, but your actions have consequences. She hides it well, she is a warrior, but you hurt her."

"She shouldn't have hurt me."

"You feel she broke your trust. What would you have done in her place then?"

"Put Asuka in the little room I guess, I was there first."

"Misato has rules she has to obey, and those rules mean putting Asuka in a bigger room."

"Why can't she stay somewhere else then? She is always saying she would rather live with her master."

"Let us assume the Major has reasons for not doing so."

"Sensei… is this going to end in you telling me to move back in the Misato?"

"What? Oh fuck no. You and Rei both are doing better since you moved. Do something though, apologize, take her to dinner, something to get her out of this funk you put her in. Otherwise she is hurting the entire effort as much as you getting shoved in that closet would have. Promise me you will do something, okay?"

"I promise Sensei."

"Good. Ready for me to stop giving you advice on dealing with women and teach you something useful?" Remo said, cracking a smile.

Shinji chuckled. "Yes Sensei."

"Alright, this technique is known as the floating punch…"

* * *

><p>Down below, there was proof that good foundational combat skills are a necessary piece of advice to give a young man on dealing with a certain class of woman.<p>

Rei was doing something that her mentor would chide her for soundly tonight, but she had no other choice. She was _blocking_. Rei knew when she threw a punch it could shatter concrete, but this fireball, this gaijin, she fought by deception. One could never tell which of the whirlwind of attacks was the one with the real power behind it. Rei had dodged what she thought had been a kick that could take her head off, then taken a jab to the thigh that nearly sent her to the ground.

Her endurance was amazing, Rei had to admit outlasting her was unlikely if she had trained to fight like this. Sinanju fought to destroy a target with a single strike. This was something totally different. She could not win in a single strike without killing her. Rei considered it, but killing her was not an option. Viral had specifically said not to.

Rei threw up her hand to intercept a blow and felt the recoil down to her shoulders as Asuka struck like a thundercrack.

This had to end now.

_I am created, Kali, time the end of all things…_

As the world around her became truly real, she finally saw the pattern in the chaos. It was vast, preplanned strings of movement that could each be perfected separately. She was so fast because she was not making a single move, each movement was part of a set. Each set could fit with a dozen other sets. It was… industrial.

Rei dropped her hands and weaved once, and four blows sailed past her.

Sinanju was the true assassin's art. To take a target, one had to not only perfect the strike, but to know the target perfectly in a single moment. The kill was not a singular action, it was between the assassin and the target. A perfect analysis of a deadly foe was crucial. Rei had underestimated the gaijin. She did so no longer.

As Asuka leaped into a double roundhouse, Rei shot under her leg and let herself be carried behind and a distance from her enemy whom she could not kill. Asuka recovered and spun around, back on the balls of her feet, bobbing and weaving place.

"_This is over._"

"Giving up? I knew it. Master Kaji said Sinanju is all half forgotten hype."

"_You misunderstand. We have passed the final intersect. The path is locked. Your only way to victory is not to continue._"

"Cut the mystic bullshit!" Asuka screamed and rushed low, planning to put Rei on the mat with a sledgehammer strike to the abdomen.

Rei simply stood, watching. As the girl made her final approach, and her arm shot out, Rei reached out and gingerly pressed into the hollow between the bicep and the tricep with two fingers. It was a gentle step past the girl's shoulder to lightly tap the right buttock and the intersection of the two segments of the right fifth rib.

As Asuka struck only air and fell to the ground, unable to catch herself, Rei released a deep breath and returned the world to the fuzzy, desaturated state in which all but most conditioned live their lives. She turned and pressed her fist into her open palm to bowed.

"Thank you Soryu-san, you have taught me a valuable lesson today. Your technique is, as all techniques are, but a shadow of the sun that is Sinanju, but it is certainly an impressive one."

Asuka lay face down on the mat, gurgling. She could breath, but she couldn't move. When she tried to lift her left arm, her right side big toe twitched. When she tried to bring her leg under herself, her right pinky finger twitched. Attempting to speak made only bubbles of saliva. What the fuck had that witch done to her?

"Nerve impulse rerouting, impressive little sister." Viral said as he crossed the mat. He crouched down beside Asuka to look at her face.

"Hey red, do something if you can hear me."

Asuka's left leg flopped on the mat like a fish. She had been trying to blink.

"Okay, now this is going to wear off, don't freak out. Just chill out, take a nap or something."

Asuka was inwardly fuming as he walked away. As if she could do anything else.

"You want to tell me where you learned to do that sis? I know I didn't teach you and I kind of doubt Ssem went that far while we were gone."

"No, Viral-sensei, I do not. Was it done correctly?"

"Yeah, looks like it."

"Then that is what matters."

Half an hour later, Asuka's body was beginning to sort itself out. Viral had left and assigned Rei to watch over her.

"Hey Ayanami?" Asuka said. She had tried to speak for the last ten minutes, but her tongue had only now decided to cooperate. Rei was seated next to her in the lotus position and opened her eyes when she spoke.

"You are recovering Soryu."

"Yeah, hey that was pretty good, I feel like I know you better now."

Rei could understand that, much was revealed in such ways.

"So, uh I still can't move, but can we talk? Its been, like, super boring down here."

"Of course we may speak."

"So, whats the deal with you and Shinji?"

Rei became worried. She was not concerned about their identities being revealed, but what would this girl do with the information.

"What do you mean, Soryu?"

"Well like, are you courting or is this something that got arranged for you, or what?"

"What is courting?"

"Well its like you know, he is your boyfriend and you visit and feel each other out, decide if you are marriage material, that sort of thing, with responsible adults there to make sure nothing, you know, untoward happens."

Rei was relieved, of course that's what she meant, the girl was far too narrow minded to realize the truth.

"That is not an inaccurate description, though we require no supervision."

"Oh… Do people get married early here?"

"Why would you think that?"

"Well you two seem really close and adults let you be alone, I just figured maybe its normal here for people to get married at fifteen or sixteen. I mean I had a friend back home that is already wed, but her family has always been like that and all the parents involved gave permission."

"I… had not considered it. We are happy as we are."

Asuka managed to roll herself over so her face was not pressed to the mat and prop up her body on one arm. Half of her face was still red where it had been on the rough tatami mat for so long.

"Well, I mean I get Shinji being unhappy about losing his room and staying with you, but you aren't, like… you know, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know… coupling?"

"Well we are a couple."

"No I mean, um…" Asuka said, both sides of her face red now.

"Soryu, what are you talking about?"

"I mean you aren't like, um… riding his bologna pony… right?" She said quite quickly and quite flustered before bringing her other hand up to cover her blushing face, peeking at Rei through her fingers.

"Riding his wha-…" Rei said and looked down at Asuka, really kind of aghast. Who even says stuff like that?

"Soryu, are you asking if Shinji and I have sexual intercourse?"

"Yes yes, sssssssh, someone will hear." Asuka said, putting a finger to her lips.

"Soryu, there is nobody here, and why would I care?"

"Well I just don't want you getting into trouble, that's all."

Rei shook her head and looked up at the ceiling. "No Soryu, we are not… doing that. Now please, there are myriad ways to refer to the act that are beautiful and full of reverence for the emotional commitment between two people like Shinji and I have. 'Riding his bologna pony' is not one of them. Please never EVER use it again."

They laughed together.

"Sorry… I'm just used to things being done a certain way and I shouldn't impose that on you. Where I come from, two people our age that aren't family and are, you know, interested, are not even left alone together without one of their family, usually parents, to keep an eye on them."

"Do your people not trust their children?"

"No, just there is a way things are done and temptation to do something wrong can be very strong. The adult is also there to make sure things are healthy and nobody is pretending or maybe taking emotionally taking advantage of the other person. With different people watching, both the guy and the girl have more opinions to draw on and can make a good decision as to whether they would make a good marriage."

Rei thought about it, but quickly realized the irrelevance to her situation. It wasn't a question of if she and Shinji were good material for each other. They simply _were_. They had been together since the beginning of time, two sides of the same grand power. They had married when cities were still a hot new idea.

"I am not concerned with Shinji and I's suitability for each other. It is very clear to both of us that we are compatible. I suppose we may marry someday though."

"Well what does the commander think?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Well he is Shinji's dad and your guardian, so his say matters, right?"

"No, I have no regard for what Commander Ikari thinks of our relationship."

"Well doesn't anybodies opinion matter to you?"

"Mine and Shinji's."

Asuka concluded that they must love each other very much, but this sounded dangerous. They were fifteen, they should not be doing this alone. Maybe she could help, or talk to the commander.

"Well I mean if you are living in his house, you should at least think about what the commander might say."

Rei cocked her head. "I do not live with the commander."

"But I thought he was your guardian, who do you live with?"

"Shinji. Before that I lived alone."

Sirens were going off in Asuka's head like there was a five-alarm fire.

"Whoa, okay… so he sleeps on the couch?"

"No, of course not. My space is small, we share the bed."

It wasn't even fires anymore, the alarms were screaming at DEFCON ONE now.

"Y-y-you what?! You are fifteen, you don't have a wedding planned and you are LIVING IN SIN with… NO no no no no no."

Rei chided herself, she should have seen this coming and said nothing to the gaijin, or just let her think everything was as her culture. She was surprised to see Asuka sit up and extend out her hand.

"I, the great Asuka Langely Soryu, will not see my friends go into this with no plan and no faith. No, I would be totally neglectful not to help you."

Friends? Rei thought. She accorded the title of friend to Kensuke and Toji, not this girl. Rei stared down at her hand.

"Besides, we are out there saving the world, if you are getting married you deserve an awesome wedding. Perfect dress, perfect flowers, perfect location, everything. And that means doing everything leading up to it right."

Rei remembered what she could of weddings, the western kind Asuka seemed to be talking about. It was, essentially, a pageant or theatrical performance centered on the couple, reenacting an idealized ceremony in which they are declared a single entity by their chosen authority. For the bride this included a special dress, attendants known as bridesmaids, and a great deal of attention on her and praise of her beauty.

Yes, yes that would do fine. Perhaps foreign traditions were not totally worthless.

Rei took Asuka's hand and shook. "I accept your aid Soryu. Thank you."

* * *

><p>High above, Shinji Ikari felt a disturbance in the force. He paused and took in the feeling of a million voices all squealing out at once, and then suddenly disappearing.<p>

"Hey, Earth to Shinji!"

Shinji looked up at his Sensei in the tree above him.

"Sorry sensei, just felt something weird."

"Yeah that happens at your age, whenever you are done searching your feelings, just say so, we can get back to work."

"Yes Sensei, whenever you are ready."

The strange positions, with Shinji on the ground and Remo lounging in the branches of a tree above him, were necessitated by the lesson. Remo plucked a fresh leaf from the branch above him.

"In 3…2…1" He said and dropped the leaf.

Shinji looked straight ahead, waiting for the wide maple leaf to drift into his view, when it did he pushed the air from his lungs and lashed out with his right hand closed together into a knife. He struck, and this was terribly important, through the leaf. He did not hit its surface, nor its stem, nor its edge. In the sliver of a second in which his fingertips touched the paper thin leaf, all of the energy produced by his trained and conditioned body was released into it.

What was left were flecks of green floating to the ground, moved about the clearing by the breeze. Remo rolled from the branch and landed on his feet beside Shinji then slapped the boy on the back.

"Well done my son. You have a habit of overextending though and I need you to really practice to not do so. Tactically in any situation it gives the enemy an opening, but with this floater strike it can rip your shoulder in two. Trust me, I know." Remo said. He was keenly aware of the danger and it had taken years for his shoulder to fully recover after he was sloppy and expected his target to stop him from going any further. The man had feinted in fear and offered no resistance so he just kept going. Remo's shoulder had dislocated itself and all the muscles in his hand and arm were strained in the process.

"Alright, now the midday ops meeting should just be getting out, the Major will be heading back to her office. Go fulfill your promise."

"Yes, sensei."

* * *

><p>Major Misato Katsuragi was walking back to her office from the second of the required daily meetings. She held a stack of binders and file folders to her chest. Her heart hadn't been in the meeting; it was just the same old stuff.<p>

She had felt horrible when she woke up and Shinji wasn't there, and not just because of the pounding hangover. She hadn't realized her door was open, and Asuka was up making breakfast. She saw her like that. She could not have been more ashamed. But Asuka, oh always sweet little Asuka, had told her everyone makes mistakes, and she could never hold it against her to fall to temptation.

She had poured everything, even her stash, down the drain while Asuka was in the shower. She was done. Forever. Never hiding like that again. She had relied on Shinji too much and when she wanted more than she should have already asked from him, he left her.

It was Friday. Tomorrow off, that would be hard but Asuka was there and they could get her unpacked. She had so much stuff compared to the small bag Shinji had brought with him. She had already promised to go to church on Sunday with her. She hadn't been in years, this would be weird. But it would be a little less weird the next week, and a little less after that, and then it would be normal.

She had been a fool to think she could find forgiveness in herself just by helping these kids. She was filthy, she was wretched. It was probably a good thing she could never be a mother, she would be horrible at it and a terrible example.

"Misato!"

She stopped and turned when she heard his voice. It was him. The beautiful little boy she had broken and turned into a soldier. He was running towards her, his bare feet slapping on the metal floor.

"Hey Misato." He said as he came to a stop.

"Hello Shinji, I…"

"I'm sorry." They said together.

Misato dropped the stack of paperwork in her arms and grabbed Shinji, tightly holding him against her. Her legs were bent and her face was buried in the white fabric of the shoulder of his robe.

"I didn't mean to hurt you." Shinji said into her ear.

"No, Shinji, I… It was my fault." She said, tears forming in her eyes. "I shouldn't have put you in that position. You do so much and I just got comfortable putting it all on you. I swear to god, I'll start cleaning up, I'll listen when you teach me and learn how to cook. I won't ever do that to you again. No more booze, I promise, I got rid of it all. Please give me another chance, please come back."

Shinji didn't say anything at first. He had had no intention of going back. He had felt like his anger was too strong, like he could never stand to live with Misato again after what she had done. He felt betrayed when she yelled at him. But not going back would hurt Misato even more and he didn't want to do that.

"Misato… I… can we talk about it? I don't want to hurt your feelings or Rei's, so can the three of us talk about it together?"

"O-okay." Misato said as she stood up straight and wiped the tears from her eyes with one hand while the other still held Shinji to her. "How about you two come over for dinner tonight? Don't worry I won't cook, Asuka wanted to make something Italian and she can make enough for all of us."

"Okay." Shinji said and hugged Misato again. It made her feel good, like she was good enough, like she could do better.

"I don't remember much of mom." He said with his face still pressed to her chest, smiling. "But even with everything, I think of you as like an aunt or something. You aren't mom, but you are like her to me, if that makes sense."

"Yeah…" Misato said and laid her hand on his head. "And I think, and I know if your mom was here she would agree, you are an amazing boy."

* * *

><p>When Shinji finally got back to the warehouse would be dojo, he saw Rei sitting alone with Remo and Viral finishing lunch, but no Asuka.<p>

"Hey Sensei, I talked to Misato."

"How'd it go."

"Good I think. Misato invited us to dinner tonight to talk things out, Rei."

"Is she cooking?" Rei asked.

"You mean trying to cook?" Viral called from the kitchen that occupied one corner of the room.

Shinji slapped his forehead. "Oy, no she is not cooking."

"Then we shall be happy to attend."

"So, where's Asuka?" Shinji asked as he sat down next to Rei and Viral brought over food.

"Eh, Rei whipped her pretty bad, so we let her off early for today."

Shinji turned to look at Rei and found her with a smile on her lips, a small thing just showing her canines on one side.

"Oh she must have been angry." He said

"Oh no, we came to understanding afterwards. She really is not so bad."

Huh, so that must have been that wave of terrible dread earlier. Things were going well. Shinji Ikari knew that when things were going this well, one should brace for impact.

* * *

><p>Gendo Ikari was just finishing denying a requisition request for more vending machines in the halls. It wasn't the twenty-third had received since the facilities inaugeration and he was as opposed now as he ever was. Why have vending machines in the halls when they had a twenty-four hour cafeteria and a perfectly efficient elevator system, there was no need to further clutter the halls with potential hard cover.<p>

He was surprised to hear a knock on his office doors. He double checked his desk calendar and confirmed he had no visitors scheduled during this time. Well, he had finished denying the various employee requisitions and leave requests early and he had time.

"Come."

The door opened and the second child walked in. Gendo had of course met the girl before and had seen all the surveillance reports, but he would hardly call himself familiar with her. She was wearing a red dress with bows at the ends of the short sleeves and at the neck, belted at the waist. She brought her heels together silently in the red footie Chuck Taylors she wore, and saluted.

"Commander Ikari."

"Captain. What can I do for you today?"

"Sir, this is a personal matter that concerns you and I had hoped I might speak freely."

"Certainly captain, though I don't imagine there is a personal matter with anybody on this base that concerns me."

"Well Sir, um its about Shinji and Rei."

"I am aware they have a relationship if that is the bombshell you are looking to drop Captain."

"Yes but Sir there are several factors I find… discomforting about that relationship, of which I am not sure you are aware. Now I understand the chaos that simply dropping me in Major Katsuragi's life can bring, especially when I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I also understand how, feeling pushed out of his living space, going to stay at a friend's home while one is frustrated is perfectly normal. However because Shinji and Rei are in a relationship and really a quite serious one, I don't think its appropriate for Shinji to be staying with her."

"What did you say, pilot?"

"That I thought it was inappropriate for…"

"No no, the last part. Am I to understand that the third child is cohabiting with Rei?"

"Um, yes, and I guess lack of space dictates sharing a bed and I was wondering if perhaps…"

The girl kept talking, Gendo was not listening. This was unacceptable; it could ruin the whole plan. If they became synchronized the output would be far outside any established parameters. Worse yet, Rei could have already potentially reimprinted. Dammit, how did he not see this sooner. Well of course he didn't see it he thought. Ever since those damn teachers arrived she had been distant. It was their fault, clearly.

"… And so I hoped as Shinji's father and Rei's guardian, you would help me and the major make sure they have proper courtship so that when they are of age they can wed with confidence that they are god's match for each other and this is not just a fleeting sensation of lust."

"Absolutely, yes of course. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, I will act on it right away. Should you need anything, pilot, just bring it to me and I will see that it is done. Please see yourself out I have much to attend to."

"Okay, thank you commander!" Asuka said and left. She was happy as she walked down the hall and waited for the elevator. She knew the commander would understand how important involvement in his child's life, or really his children's lives, was to help them be healthy, morally upright adults. As she got in the elevator her mind wandered and she considered if Rei would prefer a big church wedding or a little a chapel, or something else. Nothing civil of course, but she gave this very natural vibe, maybe just on a beach or in the woods on the geofront. They had time to plan of course, but never too early to get organized.

End

* * *

><p>What? You didn't think they could just go on being happy at this point, do you? Happiness is only worth what you put in to get it.<p>

I was all set to have Asuka and Rei's bout be this subtle thing with banter back and forth and little things showing their personalities. Then I remembered why we are all here… and that I like guilty gear.

Finally, for all your unmarried young men who think Rei is wrong about weddings, you are wrong. I am happily married, I enjoyed my wedding, but I was under no illusions before, during or since that this was anything but a pageant to show off the bride. I think most married men will agree with me, and the honest women too.


	24. Chapter 24

With apologies to Sir Integra Fairbrooks Wingates Hellsing…

I apologize also for the fact that this will be a cliffhanger. Next chapter is going to be goddamn epic.

Chapter 24

"Hey Asuka, I'm home!"

"Oh hi Misato."

"I hope you don't mind, I invited Shinji and Rei for dinner so we could all talk about what happened the other day. Shinji apologized today."

"Oh that's great! Rei and I were talking about their relationship and I am really happy for them. I talked to the commander about it since you know they are kind of both his children and I was hoping he would help you and me make sure they succeed but in a moral way. Its just not healthy for them to be living on their own so young and in the same bed, that's more temptation than anyone can handle."

"YOU WHAT?!"

"I talked to Commander Ikari…"

"What, you just stopped by?"

"Yeah, he was actually really interested, he didn't know Shinji was staying with Rei."

Why did this always happen after she got rid of all the booze. Dammit, coffee, need coffee, this was going to be a late night.

"Asuka, the commander hates Shinji, that's why he lives with me. He has always treated Rei like his own daughter. I don't know why she lives alone, but Ritsuko says he has disappeared anyone else who has tried to get to her."

"Oh… I have made quite a bad mistake, haven't I?" Asuka said, her hands clenched together in front of her chin.

"You ain't just whistlin' Dixie…" Misato said, rubbing her temples. Knowing Gendo he was going to send an armed response team to Rei's apartment and… oh shit. The aftermath of the school attack came back to her in horrible flashes.

* * *

><p>On the other side of town, Shinji had just finished in the shower. They had walked home in their practice gis from the nearest elevator and neither wanted to change into BDUs before getting cleaned up.<p>

As Shinji stepped out of the shower and grabbed his towel, he mused on how funny it was that the olive drab sets were now their default clothing. Not that Rei looked bad in hers, but they needed to get some normal clothes. All Rei had were school uniforms and some really old formals that didn't fit anymore. Then again, all he had besides his uniforms were some work out or lay around clothes.

He toweled off quickly. Though his muscles were now lean and very well defined, he still had very little body hair despite his age, so drying was quick. He imagined it might never grow over the myriad scars and marks that covered him from his thighs to his shoulders. He wasn't sure about his arms where they had been discolored by the sympathetic burns from the fourth angel, the worm.

He decided the issue did not bear thinking about and hitched the towel around his waist before stepping out of the bathroom.

"Hey wildflower, I'm done."

"Okay." Rei said, rising from the bed wearing only a towel wrapped around herself, her hair pulled up. Nakedness had been an issue, despite the progress Shinji had made. Rei considered it a small sacrifice to him to cover herself. When he was ready, she would be there for him.

They shared a light kiss as she passed. They were practically the same height now. Once Rei was in the shower, Shinji started to get dressed. It was funny, he had only realized he had been naked in front of Asuka, and not freaking out, after the battle was done and over, sometime when she babbling along in the entry plug.

Nudity and touch where things they had been experimenting with, though Shinji thought the word experimenting made it sound worse than it was. The other night they had been laying together in the darkness, Shinji in briefs and Rei in only a pair of panties. They had laid out rules. Anything exposed by shorts and a t-shirt were "green" and could be freely touched. Anything not green and exposed (besides Rei's breasts) were "yellow" and could only be touched slowly and with full hand contact. All intimate areas were "red" and were only to be touched with permission and fingertips only at first.

It was an hour after they began. Rei's hands were resting on his hips. He had one arm around her shoulders with his fingertips tracing the scars along the bottom of her breast on one side. The other hand was on her thigh and he was gently rubbing the side of his thumb along her panty line. She had been nibbling at his neck for a while and Shinji had to admit he liked it.

"I'd like to go into the red." She had said and he had nodded. She had hooked one finger into the waistband of his briefs and asked:

"Is this okay?"

He had said yes. She had slid the finger all the way around to the front, just below his navel, and asked:

"Is this okay?"

After several seconds, he said yes. As she slid a second finger into his underwear and pulled away just a little, she had asked:

"Is this okay?"

He had told her to wait. It took him a long time to say yes, to continue. She had added her ring finger, then her pinky, each time asking:

"Is this okay?"

Each time he said yes, and each time she rewarded him by ever so gently pressing her teeth to his earlobe.

"Would you be okay if I went further?" She asked when she was holding the waistband of his briefs in her hand.

He wanted her to. He REALLY wanted her to. Her hand was not the only thing pushing his underwear from his body. Inside though, he was fighting to keep the image from his mind, the feelings, the sensations, the emotions. That horrible experience of a tiny part of himself dying in that bathroom after school on that hot September day…

No, this was Rei. This was Kali. He was not that little boy. He was Shiva, the god warrior, the destroyer. She was not **_him_**.

Do it, he had said, please. He had screwed his eyes shut and tensed up. She asked if he was sure. Yes, he as snapped. She had cut him off with a kiss as she wrapped her hand around him. She didn't go any further but to gently squeeze.

He had felt like a freak when he began to cry. He was expecting her to be disgusted, or to laugh. She had just wrapped her arms around him and sat up so he could rest his head on her chest. She had squeezed him tight to her and told him how happy she was, how proud of him she felt. He had come so far, he was making progress, he was moving forward. He wasn't weak anymore, and he never would be again, she said.

Of course she would never laugh or be upset with him, Shinji had thought as they drifted off to sleep in each other's arms. She loved him, and he loved her.

He was buttoning up his pants when he heard the doorbell. That was weird. Ken and Toji hadn't said they would be coming by today.

"I'll get the door." He said loud enough for Rei to hear and he got a muffled OK from the bathroom in response.

Shinji checked the peephole and saw nothing.

Weird.

He waited. He didn't hear movement outside, nobody on the balcony hallway. It could be nothing. But it seemed off. Memories of Remo's lessons came back.

_Remember kids, if something seems weird, it probably is. If something might be dangerous, there is no harm in preparing for a fight._

Shinji took a deep breath and put himself through his mantra. In a nearly silent whisper. If there was someone outside, they would not hear him unless it was Remo or Viral.

"I am created Shiva, the destroyer, the earth shatterer, the dead night tiger made whole by the master of Sinanju, who is this dogmeat that challenges me…"

He had been glad to leave the heightened state, but now really felt better back in it. As he began to feel his blood move within his veins, he grabbed the door handle. He pushed his presence outward and felt many souls out in the hall. He guessed a dozen.

"Oh shit, AT field…" He heard from the tiniest vibration in the air, it must have been a whisper.

Whatever was out there was hostile. He would greet them likewise.

Shinji swung open the door. Two men in black, either side of the door, long guns.

"THIRD CHILD YOU WILL-"

Shinji grabbed both barrels and swung them to his left as he stepped forward. Once past their tips he let the barrels go and swung out with his right arm in a back-hand strike, catching both men in the face, one with his fist and the other with his elbow. Collapsed onto each Shinji sent them both over the railing with piston kick.

As two more barrels poked around the door frame, Shinji pulled his hands back in fists against his body then thrust forward with his fingers spread. Orange light burst through the door and pushed the assaulters back.

What he did next was possibly the worst tactical decision one could imagine. He knew this, he did it anyway. He had to get them away from Rei while she vulnerable.

Shiva leapt into the hallway. He landed with a foot on the railing , twisting in mid air to get a look at his foes. Four more stacked up on each side of the door with someone at some kind of console behind the ones to the left of the door.

The hallway as a battleground provides a good staging area for making an entry. In this situation the home to be entered has only a single entrance/exit. Armored and armed entry teams can take the occupants by force of numbers. Their bulk and equipment gives them an advantage.

In the hallway itself however, their increased bulk becomes a serious problem when confronted with a single opponent who is able to do something they cannot: pass.

Shiva jumped off to the left and swung out with his arm behind him to send a flaming wall of force to the right and sent them all to the deck.

He slipped by the men in black to the left, the side with the support man behind them. Grabbing their gun barrels as he passed he twisted them all into each other, preventing anybody from aiming at him without muzzling their comrades.

Shiva took the support man by the neck and pulled him around as a shield. All of the men were still fumbling with their weapons or picking themselves off the floor in all their armor. Children playing with toys they didn't understand. He snapped the support man's neck and threw his body aside. He had meant to use him as a shield. It wasn't necessary.

The first man died with a spear hand to the neck. Where his spine and windpipe had been was now a soup. His body went over the rail.

The second man was grabbed by the high neck protector and his face pulled down onto Shiva's knee. His body was left slumped against the wall of the building.

The third man man died quickly and painlessly, his skull obliterated by a roundhouse kick. Shinji left his body where it lay, as if the man had been sitting against the wall and fell over.

The fourth man hadn't even recovered from the stunning blow of Shiva's AT field. He was finished with a knife hand to the nose that drove the bones of his face into his brain. He fell on his back in front of the door.

Shiva was back at the door to the apartment, and he was now between the door and all the remaining soldiers. The soldiers had recovered furthest from the door first, with the furthest, the eight man, on his feet helping the seventh up.

Five and six died still on the ground, their chests caved in by hand and food.

Seven died of having his face, jaw, and brain obliterated with a fist that stopped when it cracked the back of his helmet.

Shiva grabbed the eight man with his gore soaked hand, tearing his weapon from him with the other and lifting him from the ground by the throat.

_Who are you?_

"N-N-NERV, we're NERV!"

_If you are allies, then why did you attack us with lethal weapons?_

"P-please, we were ordered to separate you from the first child by any means necessary. We were just following orders I swear!"

_Who ordered the attack?_

"We were briefed by the commander directly. Nobody else was involved, we were told to tell nobody until the operation was finished. Oh god, what the fuck are you?"

_Exactly. Did you see the operation's commander today?_

"Y-yeah, I did."

_What color was his tie?_

"What? uuuuh, blue, no red!"

Shiva snapped his neck with a jerk against the wall so hard that it threw one of the man's boots off and left a spider web of cracks in the masonry. Shiva dropped the body and turned back to the apartment.

Shinji raised one foot up and looked at the string of gore between his toe and the floor.

"Eeeew. Rei, are you okay?"

"Yes, thank you." She said as she stepped around the door frame with only her blouse buttoned up and hanging down to her thighs.

"Oh thank goodness, we need to… Rei, are you okay?"

Shinji hadn't seen that look in Rei's eyes before. As she licked her lips, Shinji thought she looked… hungry. Her breathing was getting deeper as her chest heaved up and down and her eyes only got wider as she looked up and down the hallway, then looked Shinji up and down.

"Rei…"

Rei didn't know who he was talking to, she didn't care. His arms and legs were covered in blood and bits of flesh. He had killed nine men. No wait, she had felt the two he flung to the ground. Eleven men, armed, with his bare hands.

She stepped out of the doorway, each foot swinging around in front of the other, rocking her hips. With each footfall she felt the red that now covered the floor of the hall slide between her toes.

As she pressed her chest against Shinji's, she ran her fingertips from the tops of his shoulders down to his blood soaked hands. With gentle pressure she pulled his hands around her body. She placed one on her hip and the other across her shoulder blades.

"Rei, I don't want to get blood on you..."

"I want you too."

"Rei, we need to…"

"Go inside."

"Yes and finish getting dressed."

"But I don't want to…" She whined and tugged at him.

"I can tell, but we were just attacked."

"And you killed them all." She said and ran the tip of her finger across one of the loops of his serpent scar that crossed his chest. He always liked that. "My wonderful destroyer…"

Shinji felt horrible to do it, but they could still be in danger and he could apologize later. He lifted his hands from her and gently pushed her back by her shoulders.

"Rei, there could be more out there. We need to make sure we are safe, we need to make sure everyone is safe."

She came right back and grabbed him by the hair above his ears, pulling him close to kiss her and looking hurt for a moment when he refused.

"Let them take care of themselves, when have they watched out for us? They don't care for us, why should we care for them?"

"Rei, you know that's not true. What about Misato, what about Toji and Ken?"

Rei shut her eyes and turned her head to the side. She had forgotten their followers and felt ashamed for it. Misato was not so bad, even if she was friends with the Akagi witch and gave the gaijin Shinji's room.

"They care about us Rei, and this attack could be even bigger than the last one. I promise I'm all yours as soon as we make sure everyone is safe. We have a responsibility, we need to be worthy of our power."

Rei let go of his hair and nodded as she pressed her face into his shoulder.

"I love you, warrior." She whispered. It was the first time she had said it outside the safe darkness of the apartment at night.

"I love you too, wildflower." He said and wrapped his arms around her. What was the blood but the sign he had worked to keep her safe? And what was just one little kiss, he thought as she leaned against the wall and pulled him to her by his hips. As their lips met, they pressed into each other and shared a soft moan.

"Get your filthy hands off her right now, boy!"

* * *

><p>Misato was making full use of the extensive rally modifications to the flashy red Nissan. As she carved through the streets and drifted around corners she left billows of white smoke and the stink of rubber behind her.<p>

If Gendo was going to do what she thought he would, or worse yet, head an assault himself, this was going to be a bloodbath. Oh god, what if he caught them… No no no she did not even want to think about it.

Asuka sat in the passenger seat, bracing herself with one hand on the dash, one gripping the side of her seat, and a foot braced against the metallic red briefcase she had in the foot well. Misato didn't know what was in the thing, but Asuka had insisted on bringing it when she heard there could be danger to Shinji and Rei. She was still wearing her red dress and chucks.

Misato heard gunfire and slammed her foot down as she came out of the corner. Gunfire already could only… wait they weren't anywhere near the apartment yet, they were still heading hest across the northern edge of town and Rei's place was on the west border. And the shots were coming from the South.

Misato looked to her left from the highway just in time to see the explosion erupt from the side of the one of the skyscrapers downtown. She was already reaching for her phone when it began to ring.

"What the fuck is going on?! I just saw…"

"Major! They came out of nowhere! We have reports of multiple platoon strength armed groups moving within the city! They are engaging police, our troops, even each other. We have received no demands or declarations. We have VTOLs taking off but pilots report getting painted as soon as they get off the ground."

"Shitfuck, what about the pilots? I have the second child with me, what do we have for eyes on the first child's apartment?"

"Cameras in the area are down. Sensors showed an AT field surge consistent with the third child's pattern just a few moments ago. Commander Ikari is en route with an armed response team but… that's weird, it looks like they were en route before the attacks began."

"Yeah I kind of saw that coming."

"What?"

"Nothing Makoto, I am on the way to the first child's apartment now, do you have my location?"

"Yes Major."

"Any groups active between us and them?"

"Not at this time Ma'am."

Misato put her open phone into a clip on her dash. "Keep me updated."

"Yes Ma'am."

* * *

><p>His father's voice. The sounds of metal on leather, the sharp clicks of safeties being flicked off. Heavy rubber soled boots, more coming up the stairwell. A loud car engine approaching, Misato's?<p>

First, instinctual reaction: back away, raise hands, plead that nothing untoward was going on.

Second, calmly explain what was going on.

Third, semi-logical reaction: end the threat, explain and apologize as necessary later.

Fourth, logical option: Embarrass Gendo Ikari.

I think we have a winner.

"And where the fuck were you?" Shinji snapped. His arms were wrapped around Rei and he made sure to slightly turn to put himself between Gendo and her.

"Don't you fucking talk to me like that you little piece of shit." He said and drew his weapon, holding the black plastic and steel pistol out in one hand, arm straight. "Now let go of her and step away."

Shinji raised his lip at his father. "Don't point a gun at me like I am supposed to be afraid of it. You nor that weapon hold any fear over me. The dead guys with guns say you sent them, to separate us by force."

"Don't be ridiculous, the only men I sent are the ones with me. These aren't mine, but I am sure you brought them here."

"HEY!" They all heard Misato shout from below. Everyone present peeked over the rail and saw the operations commander, black coat around her shoulders and weapon drawn, stamping towards the building.

"If we can act like fucking adults here, we have a little bigger problem then teenagers getting up to hanky-panky!" She yelled before starting up the stairs. Behind her was Asuka, laying her red case on he ground to open it.

Asuka was content to stay on the ground and watch out. She had no desire to be in the middle of that family argument. She clicked the buttons on the sides of each clasp on the case then pressed her thumbs against the faceplates. She heard the little whirr of the scanner then the click as the locks disengaged.

Inside the case were not weapons, but a weapons system. Asuka had designed and programmed it herself after watching one of Master Kaji's old action movies. Well not really old, it came out right before impact. She had laughed at the idea of using statistics from gun fights to design a martial art based around shooting blind and "dodging" likely trajectories. But then she had started thinking about it.

First came the visor. The microframe computer used sonar and directional radar to display target locations and likely attack vectors. Asuka had figured out that due to the geometry of a gun barrel, it was easy to attach a cone of potential attack and let the system show her where a given weapon might shoot. It wasn't perfectly accurate, it was a cone, not a line. By tracing trajectories of shots fired, the system could locate targets it could not otherwise "see". All of the information was displayed as an overlay across the orange tinted, single piece, visor that she turned on and slid onto her face.

Next was the auto-syringe. It wasn't too different from an emergency allergy shot pen. She placed the tip to her neck and clicked the button, only tensing after the needle was in. A couple of deep breaths and she dropped the plastic tube on the ground as her visor came to life.

_TETRAGRAMMATON system 2.03_

_Initializing…_

_Welcome Crusader_

_Pairing…_

Asuka only reached for the guns once the system had found them. She had tried modified Beretta model ninety threes like in the movie, but had found them wanting. The Glock product on the other hand had been quite satisfactory. The void behind the magazine well provided plenty of room for hardware and the machine pistol magazines were quite reliable. Muzzle brakes and infrared lasers completed the package.

_Weapons paired. Good hunting._

Asuka was not honestly expecting anything. It was to be simple, pick up the other pilots, get back down to the geofront, and wait it out until major UN forces arrived. Even a family argument, she was sure, would be only a small delay in such a serious situation.

She was of course, not taking into account that the family in question arguing was Shinji and Gendo.

"You are never to return here. Rei, when school starts again next month, you will have an armed escort and if this little psycho gets anywhere near you again they will put him down. You can still pilot without any legs, boy." Gendo growled out.

"You know if you want to just get to the point, we can both just drop our pants now." Shinji snapped back.

"I shouldn't expect an impudent little shit like you to have a serious conversation. Toilet humor though, really? When is the last time you read a book, was it green eggs and ham?"

"Oh just an ancient epic that has influenced South Asian culture for the last few thousand years, no big deal."

"Oh my god, will you both shut up!" Misato roared as she reached the top of the stairs. There was silence but for a small huff from Rei. She had been enjoying the Ikaris' bickering. They were fighting over her and it was flattering in a way.

"There are no less than ten separate, opposing, groups invading the supposedly most secure city on the entire fucking planet, and you two are up here… what? What are you actually arguing about? Shinji, you're fourteen, no matter how much you love your girlfriend, you shouldn't be living with her. Neither of you should be living alone!."

"Thank you Major." Gendo said, straightening his glasses after having holstered his weapon. "If you will please prepare transports, we will…"

"And you!" Misato said, turning to Gendo. "You are bringing armed troops, who are needed to control a, and I can't emphasize this enough, FUCKING INVASION of the city YOU are responsible for, to shore up your LIMP DICK EGO while you try and be a father to two children who you are responsible for but don't seem to actually do shit for!"

"Major, you are out of line!"

"No commander, you are! Under the emergency powers granted during a military operation within the metro area of Tokyo-3, all authority passes to the most senior military officer onsite. In case you may have forgotten, that is me! Now commander, you will go back to the geofront and shelter there." Misato turned back to Shinji. "And you two, get some clothes on and…"

They were interrupted as gunfire split the plaster above their heads. Everyone dropped to the floor, right into the blood and guts that filled the hallway.

Down below, Asuka saw the little box bracket where the shots had come from. Two bursts of 9mm fire and both shooters were down. More targets were already filling her view.

"Excuse me! If I could have your attention please!" She called out in her sweetest voice. Nobody was shooting at her yet, good sign.

"Hi! I would really appreciate if you would stop shooting at my friends and surrender peacefully. So just raise your weapons above your heads and come out nice and slow and nobody has to get hurt, okay?"

As cones of fire filled her view, she shrugged. It had been worth a try.

Asuka spun left as the windows and alleyways across the street lit up in muzzle flash. Spin, duck, jump, sway, spin back, she danced out of the fire like she could see it coming. Which, actually, she could.

She had realized that the human brain, even with practiced movements and heightened reflexes from muscle memory could not run the necessary calculations to make an idea like gun kata work. So she made the visor. But that still wasn't enough. It was still a matter of processing all the incoming information. Even in an adrenaline "rush" state, there was just too much to take in.

Master Kaji had suggested and authorized the experiments with stimulants. It had taken a while to find one that sped up the brain without dulling decision making, but when they finally did, it worked beautifully. Asuka danced away from the fire again and brought her pistols up.

"Alright if that's the way you want it!" She yelled and fired, ducked, spun, fired again. "I am the great Asuka Langely Soryu!"

Double axle over a hail of fire, turn, fire with arms at forty-five degrees.

"Welcome to my absolute territory!"

Up on the hall balcony, NERV's expert soldiers were talking amongst themselves.

"Dude…" "Holy shit…" "How is that even possible?"

NERV's expert assassins had more reserved praise.

"Hm, an acceptable substitute for actual ability I suppose."

"Neat trick, kinda works with how she fights with her hands."

Within a minute, the opponent was silent.

"Alright you two, go get dressed. You and you…" She said, pointing at two of Gendo's men. "Give them your radios. If you are going to be assassins, lets get you assassinating. The bridge crew will give you hot spots and you are going to go cool them off. I'd feel bad but seeing as guns aren't really a problem for you too anymore, I think you will be alright."

"You want us to go kill people?"

"But Misato, shouldn't we…"

"I have given you your marching orders soldier! You will search and destroy! SEARCH AND DESTROY! Any resistance you encounter is to be CRUSHED! NERV does not run from our enemies! We are the undefeated army! Kill them all! I order you to leave nothing but bloody stains in your way!"

end

* * *

><p>I loved Equilibrium. Came out about the same time as the matrix, I thought it had better choreographed fights. What Asuka has done is used technology, drugs, and a couple of Glock 18s (full automatic 9mm pistol with 33 round magazine for gun unfamiliar) to replicate a gunfighting technique called gun kata from the movie.<p>

The grand battle of Tokyo-3 comes next. This chapter is a little short, but I did not feel like padding it out unnecessarily.


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